Drunk and Drugged Driving

• Drunk driving is not an accident; it is a violent crime.
• One person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 29 minutes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2007).
• Nearly 1.5 million driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) arrests occur in the United States each year (NHTSA:  Traffic Safety Facts, 2006).
• Of the 42,642 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in 2006, 17,602 fatalities (41%) involved alcohol (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2007).  Of these, an estimated 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08 or greater (Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 2006).  In addition, an estimated 254,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes where alcohol was present (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006).
• In 2005, 21% of children under the age of 15 who died in vehicle accidents were killed in alcohol-related crashes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006).
• During the Christmas and New Year holiday time, about 45% of all fatalities occur in crashes where at least one of the drivers has a BAC level of 0.08 or more. During the remainder of December, the figure is 30% (NHTSA: Traffic Safety Facts, 2004).
• Drunk driving legislation and increased enforcement have saved an estimated 300,000 lives during the past 25 years (NHTSA, 2006).  The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is working closely with MADD to advocate for awareness of drunk driving, increased law enforcement efforts, technological support, maximum seat belt use, an improved DUI criminal justice system, and alternative transportation strategies (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 2006).
• Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths (NHTSA, 2003).
• While drugged driving is safer than drunk driving in the minds of many teenagers, in reality, marijuana can affect concentration, perception and reaction time up to 24 hours after it is smoked.  That's much, much longer than alcohol can affect behavior. (David Hanson, Ph.D., 2007). It appears that very few illegal drug users are ever apprehended for driving while drugged, creating an ignored problem and one that encourages teenagers to think driving while drugged is safer than driving while drunk (ibid).
• One study showed that drugs and driving may be a bigger problem than generally recognized.  A report on drivers without alcohol in their systems who were stopped by police for reckless driving found that 45% had marijuana and 25% had cocaine in their sytems (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2007).

Overview

The term "drunk driving," although widely used, is a bit misleading.  It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or higher in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. although that is still well above the American Medical Association's recommendation of .05. The anti-drunk driving movement recognizes that the driving ability of most Americans is impaired long before their BAC reaches .10. In addition, many of these impaired drivers on the road are impaired as a result of drugs other than alcohol. The term "drunk driving" is intended to incorporate all forms of impairment.  

Most anti-drunk driving programs have a dual focus--to decrease the number of impaired drivers on the road, and to provide services to those victimized by impaired drivers. Over 1,000 pieces of legislation have been enacted within the last decade to help law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and victim advocates respond more effectively to the drunk driving problem. In 1984, Congress passed the federal "21" minimum drinking age law, which is credited for saving thousands of young lives. The constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints was upheld in 1990, clearing the way for law enforcement officers to use this highly effective tool to detect drunk drivers and educate the public. Victim Impact Panels have been in operation since 1982, providing a forum for victims of drunk driving crashes to share their stories with offenders who are mandated to attend Panels as part of their sentences. The re-authorization of the Victims of Crime Act in 1988 required that compensation programs which receive federal VOCA monies must compensate drunk driving crash victims in the same manner as other types of crime victims.

Bibliography

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation: Traffic Safety Facts, Crash Stats, 2006)

Ibid., Blood Alcohol Concentration Test Refusal Laws, 2006.

NHTSA:Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Fatality Counts, 2006.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 2006.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2007.

Jones, RK, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, 2003.

For additional information, please contact:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
www.nhtsa.gov

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
1-800-GET-MADD
www.madd.org

Federal Bureau of Investigation
www.fbi.gov

Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov

National Association of Crime Victims Compensation Boards
www.nacvcb.org

National Institutes of Health
www.nida.nih.gov

National Center for Victims of Crime
2000 M Street NW, Suite 480
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 467-8700
Fax: (202) 467-8701
Helpline hours are Monday through Friday 8:30am to 8:30pm ET:
Toll-free Helpline: 1-800-FYI-CALL (1-800-394-2255)
TTY/TDD: 1-800-211-7996 
Email: gethelp@NCVC.org
www.ncvc.org

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Copyright © 2008 by the National Center for Victims of Crime.   This information may be freely distributed, provided that it is distributed free of charge, in its entirety and includes this copyright notice.