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 g/dL 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 2014 alcohol-impaired-driving information is presented as follows: * 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 to drive with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. In 2014, there were 9,967 people killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes, an average of 1 alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 53 minutes. These alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States in 2014. Of the 9,967 people who died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2014, there were 6,391 drivers (64%) with BACs of .08 g/dL or higher. The remaining fatalities consisted of 2,752 motor vehicle occupants (28%) and 824 nonoccupants (8%). The distribution of fatalities in these crashes by role is shown. (Author/publisher)
Abstract