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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 2-26: Fatalities by Highest Driver Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) in Highway Crashes

Friday, April 14, 2017

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  1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total fatalities 43,825 44,599 41,508 39,250 40,150 40,716 41,817 42,065 42,013 41,501 41,717 41,945 42,196 43,005 42,884 42,836 43,510 42,708 41,259 37,423 33,883 32,999 32,479 33,782 32,719 32,675 35,092
Fatalities in alcohol-related crashes (BAC = .01+) 21,098 20,607 18,307 16,401 16,039 15,626 15,893 15,866 14,973 14,899 14,790 15,746 15,731 15,793 15,423 15,311 15,985 15,970 15,534 13,826 12,731 11,906 11,527 12,118 11,896 11,731 12,074
Percent 48.14 46.21 44.10 41.79 39.95 38.38 38.01 37.72 35.64 35.90 35.45 37.54 37.28 36.72 35.96 35.74 36.74 37.39 37.65 36.95 37.57 36.08 35.49 35.87 36.36 35.90 34.41
BAC = 0.00                                                      
Number 22,589 23,823 23,025 22,726 23,979 24,948 25,768 26,052 26,902 26,477 26,798 26,082 26,334 27,080 27,328 27,413 27,423 26,633 25,611 23,499 21,051 21,005 20,848 21,563 20,713 20,856 22,912
Percent 51.54 53.42 55.47 57.90 59.72 61.27 61.62 61.93 64.03 63.80 64.24 62.18 62.41 62.97 63.73 64.00 63.03 62.36 62.07 62.79 62.13 63.65 64.19 63.83 63.31 63.83 65.29
BAC = 0.01 - 0.07                                                      
Number 2,974 2,901 2,480 2,352 2,300 2,236 2,416 2,415 2,216 2,353 2,235 2,422 2,441 2,321 2,327 2,212 2,404 2,479 2,494 2,115 1,972 1,771 1,662 1,782 1,820 1,764 U
Percent 6.79 6.50 5.97 5.99 5.73 5.49 5.78 5.74 5.27 5.67 5.36 5.77 5.78 5.40 5.43 5.16 5.53 5.80 6.04 5.65 5.82 5.37 5.12 5.27 5.56 5.40 U
BAC = 0.08+                                                      
Number 18,125 17,705 15,827 14,049 13,739 13,390 13,478 13,451 12,757 12,546 12,555 13,324 13,290 13,472 13,096 13,099 13,582 13,491 13,041 11,711 10,759 10,136 9,865 10,336 10,076 9,967 10,265
Percent 41.36 39.70 38.13 35.79 34.22 32.89 32.23 31.98 30.36 30.23 30.10 31.77 31.50 31.33 30.54 30.58 31.22 31.59 31.61 31.29 31.75 30.72 30.37 30.60 30.80 30.50 29.25

KEY: BAC = blood alcohol concentration; U = data are not available.

NOTES

BAC values have been assigned by U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) when alcohol test results are unknown. Alcohol-related crashes pertain to the highest BAC among the drivers involved the crashes. For some years, numbers for Fatalities in alcohol-related crashes (BAC = .01+) may not add to totals due to rounding.

In 2001, the NHTSA adopted a new method to estimate missing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test result data. This new method, multiple imputation, is being used by NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) to improve the scope of alcohol involvement statistics by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. As a result of the methodology change, BAC 0.08 breakouts, which coincide with many state laws, can now be determined. Thus, NHTSA's general reporting categories have been modified to reflect this and are now BAC 0.00, BAC 0.01-0.07, and BAC 0.08+.

SOURCES

U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts, Alcohol-Impaired Driving (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 4, available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/ as of March 2017.