Drivers are considered to be alcohol-impaired when their blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) are .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, any fatal crash involving a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher is considered to be an alcohol-impaired-driving crash, and fatalities occurring in those crashes are considered to be alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities. The term “driver” refers to the operator of any motor vehicle, including a motorcycle. Estimates of alcohol-impaired driving are generated using BAC values reported to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and BAC values imputed when they are not reported. The term “alcohol-impaired” does not indicate that a crash or a fatality was caused by alcohol impairment, only that an alcohol-impaired driver was involved in the crash. In this fact sheet, the 2013 alcohol-impaired-driving information is presented in the following order: * Overview * Economic Cost * Children * Time of Day and Day of Week * Drivers * Fatalities by State. All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have by law set a threshold making it illegal per se to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher. In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes, an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 52 minutes. These alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States. Of the 10,076 people who died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2013, 6,515 (65%) were drivers with BACs of .08 or higher. The remaining fatalities consisted of 2,724 motor vehicle occupants (27%) and 837 non-occupants (8%). The distribution of fatalities in these crashes by role is shown. (Author/publisher)
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