Friends Drive Sober - Impaired Driving Prevention

Risk Factors for Alcohol Impaired Driving

Adult drivers ages 35 and older who have been arrested for impaired driving are 11 to 12 times more likely than those who have never been arrested to die eventually in crashes involving alcohol. ²
Nearly three quarters of drivers convicted of driving while impaired are either frequent heavy drinkers (alcohol abusers) or alcoholics (people who are alcohol dependent). ²
By a wide margin, 21 year-olds recorded the most alcohol-related fatalities (680) in 2000. The ages with the next highest numbers of fatalities in alcohol-related crashes were 19, 22, 20 and 23, respectively. By comparison, no other single age besides these five accounted for more than 500 alcohol-related fatalities. ³
Male drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes are almost twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10% or greater A BAC of 0.08% is equal to or greater than the legal limit in most states. ¹
At all levels of blood alcohol concentration, the risk of being involved in a crash is greater for young people than it is for older people. In 2002, 24% of drivers ages 15 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol. ¹
Young men ages 18 to 20 (too young to buy alcohol legally) report driving while impaired almost as frequently as men ages 21 to 34. ¹

References:

1. What You Need to Know About. Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Retrieved on November 25, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://alcoholism.about.com/library/blnaa37.htm

2. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Impaired Driving. Retrieved on November 25, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drving.htm

3. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Youth Fatal Crash and Alcohol Facts. Retrieved on November 25, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/2002YFCAF/youthfspa.html