The 2006 Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Fatalities and Injuries shows that 17,602 people were killed in the United States in alcohol-related motor vehicle traffic crashes – essentially unchanged from the 17,590 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005. Also, fatalities in crashes where the highest blood alcohol concentration (BAC) among any of the involved drivers, pedestrians or pedalcyclists was .08 g/dL or above increased marginally to 15,121 fatalities in 2006. While alcohol-related fatalities are those that occur in crashes involving at least one driver, pedestrian, or pedalcyclist with a BAC of .01 or above, of interest to NHTSA’s impaired driving programs are fatalities in crashes involving at least one driver or a motorcycle operator who was legally intoxicated (BAC=.08+). In 2006, an estimated 13,470 people were killed in traffic crashes that involved at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 g/dL or above – a decline of 0.8 percent from the 13,582 fatalities in 2005. In crashes where none of the drivers or motorcycle operators involved had a BAC of .08 or above, the fatalities increased by more than 8 percent to 1,651 from 1,520. These are crashes where only a pedestrian, a pedalcyclist, or other type of nonoccupant had a BAC of .08 or above. Further, the Annual Assessment discusses some of the driver characteristics (age, gender) and the circumstances (day of the week, single versus multiple vehicle, etc.) surrounding the crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC=.08+. Finally, it compares the total number of fatalities for 2005 and 2006, in crashes involving at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08+, the change in the number of fatalities, and the percent change for each State, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
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