Alcohol Policies Project

Center for Science in the Public Interest

1875 Connecticut Ave NW Ste 300

Washington, DC  20009

202/777-8385

202/265-4954 (f)

alcproject@cspinet.org

http://cspinet.org/booze

 

 

Related Links

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Stop Impaired Driving Program

 

Costs of Impaired Driving in the U.S. Fact Sheets

 

States with .08 BAC Law, 2004 [PDF]

 

NHTSA Fact Sheet on .08 BAC Illegal per se Level [PDF]

 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

 

 

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Beer & Impaired Driving

  • Beer is the drink most commonly consumed by people stopped for alcohol-impaired driving or involved in alcohol-related crashes.1

  • 80% of drivers arrested for DWI reported that beer was their alcoholic beverage of choice.2

  • Someone in the U.S. dies every 30 minutes in an alcohol-related traffic crash.3

  • Alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost society an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000, including more than $51.1 billion in monetary costs and $63.2 billion in quality of life losses.4

  • The estimated cost of alcohol-related traffic crashes caused by drivers under age 21 is $19.5 million.5

  • While the total number of young drivers dying in motor vehicle crashes fell from 1999 to 2001, alcohol-related fatalities in this group are rising.6

  • The intoxication rate for 16- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2001 was 18%. The highest intoxication rates were for drivers 21 to 24 and 25 to 34 years old (33% and 28% , respectively).7

  • Young drunk drivers (16 to 20 years old) drive with higher BAC levels than older drivers.8

  • Drinking drivers under 21 years old average 5.1 drinks before driving.  The average calculated BAC level for those drivers is .08, whereas BAC levels for older, legal-age drinkers is 0.02.9

  • One in five (21%) drivers aged 15 to 17 years old are considered binge drinkers and one in ten 15- to 17-year-old drivers report driving after consuming alcohol.10

  • States with more restrictive driver-licensing laws had fewer 15- to 17-year-old drivers who were heavy or binge drinkers and had lower rates of drinking and driving by 15- to 17-year-old drivers.10

  • 68% of children who died in alcohol-related traffic crashes were passengers of drinking drivers.11

  • On average, a single gas station mini-mart selling alcohol contributes 4.75 times more to drinking and driving episodes than regular convenience stores.12

  • The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) Restoration Act encourages states to pass open container laws, which essentially require states to ban the presence of open alcoholic-beverage containers in vehicles or lose federal highway funding for every year that the state does not comply.  Currently, 36 states and the District of Columbia have such laws.13  A study found that states with those laws have fewer alcohol-related fatal crashes than states without those laws.  Public opinion polls show that most Americans, particularly in states without open container laws, support them.14

  • Effective measures to reduce youth drinking and driving include:15

    • minimum legal drinking age (21) laws

    • zero tolerance laws

    • law enforcement

    • anti-drinking-and-driving programs targeted towards adults

    • increases in the beer tax

  • Some impaired-driving legislation that the beer industry opposed:

    • open container laws

    • .08 BAC

    • sobriety checkpoints

    • minimum legal drinking age (21) laws

    • increases in the beer tax

 

References:

1. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Q&A: Alcohol: General. Fact Sheet.

2. Runge, J.D. (2003). Impaired Driving in the U.S.: Progress and Research Needs. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

3. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2002). Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes/Fatality and Injury Estimates. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), National Automotive Sampling System (NASS), General Estimated System (GES), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

4. Taylor, D., Miller T.R. & Cox, K.C. (2002). Impaired driving in the United States. Fact Sheet. Prepared by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation for the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.

5. Levy, D.T., Miller, T.R., Spicer, R. & Stewart, K. (1999). Underage Drinking: Intermediate Consequences and their Costs. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation working paper. June 1999. Online: http://www.udetc.org/documents/costunderagedrinking.pdf

6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2002). Notice to Readers: Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Motor-Vehicle Crashes -- United States, 1999-2000. MMWR. 50(47):1064-1065.

7. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts 2001. Washington D.C.: National Center for Statistics and Analysis.

8. Royal, D. (2003). Volume I: Summary Report; National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behavior: 2001. Research Report. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

9. Royal, D. (2003). Volume I: Summary Report; National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behavior: 2001. Research Report. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

10. Office of Applied Studies. (2004). The NSDUH Report: Graduated driver licensing and drinking and driving among young drivers. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Online: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/licenses/licenses.pdf.

11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2004). Child passenger deaths involving drinking drivers -- United States, 1997-2002. MMWR. 53(4):77-79. Online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5304a2.htm

12. Segars, L. & Ryan, B. (1986). Survey of off-site purchase and consumption locations of convicted drinking drivers. County of San Diego Alcohol Program.

13. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2004). Open Container Laws. Fact Sheet. Online: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/New-fact-sheet03/OpenContainer.pdf.

14. Stuster, J., Burns, M. & Fiorentino, D. (2002). Open Container Laws and Alcohol Involved Crashes: Some Preliminary Data. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Technical Report. April 2002. Online: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/OpenContainer/.

15. Hedlund, J.H., Ulmer, R.G. & Preusser, D.F. (2001). Determine Why There Are Fewer Young Alcohol-Impaired Drivers. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Technical Report. September 2001. Online: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/FewerYoungDrivers/index.htm.