Alcohol.

A motor vehicle crash is considered to be alcohol-related if at least one driver or nonoccupant (such as a pedestrian or pedalcyclist) involved in the crash is determined to have had a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.01 gram per deciliter (g/dl) or higher. Thus, any fatality that occurs in an alcohol-related crash is considered an alcohol-related fatality. The term “alcohol-related” does not indicate that a crash or fatality was caused by the presence of alcohol. Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes fell by 2.9 percent, from 17,524 in 2002 to 17,013 in 2003. The 17,013 alcohol-related fatalities in 2003 (40 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year) represent a 5 percent reduction from the 17,908 alcohol-related fatalities reported in 1993 (45 percent of the total). The 17,013 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2003 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes. In 2003, 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had by law created a threshold making it illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or higher. Of the 17,013 people who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2003, 14,630 (86 percent) were killed in crashes where at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or higher. Of the 14,630 people killed in such crashes, 69 percent were drivers or nonoccupants with BAC levels at or above 0.08 g/dl. The remaining 31 percent were drivers or nonoccupants with either no BAC or BAC below 0.08 g/dl, or were passengers. (Author/publisher)