Everyone knows drunk driving can kill. And the Federal Department of Transportation has conducted research for years that dramatically underscores that message. Its study of reported traffic accidents from 2005 shows that our country sees an alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes, on average. And in 30% of all the fatal accidents reported that year, one or more of the drivers involved had a blood-alcohol concentration over the legal limit. The same report said more than 1.4 million Americans were arrested for driving under the influence in 2004—a rate of one per every 139 licensed drivers in the United States. In Pennsylvania, our proportion of fatal drinking-related accidents is on par with the national average: intoxicated drivers were involved in 25% of fatal accidents in Pennsylvania and 24% in the whole United States.

Drunk drivers who kill—those found to have a blood-alcohol concentration at or above 0.8% after a fatal accident—were about equally likely to be drivers of cars (22%) or light trucks (21%) and slightly more likely to be motorcyclists (27%), but highly unlikely to be drivers of large trucks (1%). The majority of intoxicated drivers in the report were under the age of 45, with the age group most likely to drive while intoxicated being young drivers between 21 and 24. Drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes were more likely that non-intoxicated drivers involved in fatal crashes to have previous license suspensions or convictions for driving under the influence or speeding. While alcohol-related crashes happen at all times of day, research shows that they are most likely to happen between midnight and 6 a.m.

Another study published in 1998 showed that most intoxicated drivers are white males—84% of drivers with a BAC of 0.10% or greater were male, and more than 70% were white. The same study suggested, however, that Native Americans had the highest proportion of drunk drivers relative to their overall population; Asian Americans had the lowest. The study also found that drivers involved in a fatal crash found with alcohol in their blood were likely to be unemployed and had a low rate of formal education. Those in the very highest and very lowest income brackets were underrepresented.

Victims of intoxicated drivers lack this detailed demographic picture. As anyone who’s ever lost a loved one to a driver under the influence knows, most victims of drunk drivers are victims of random chance—they were just unlucky enough to be passing by. But we do know that when intoxicated drivers are involved in accidents, they’re more likely to kill than to merely injure—39% of fatal crashes were alcohol-related in 2005, but only 10% of injury crashes and 6% of property damage crashes involved alcohol. And the government keeps sad statistics on children killed by intoxicated drivers. Of children under the age of 15 killed in accidents in 2005, about 21% were killed by a drunk driver. And of the children under 15 killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2003, almost half (47%) were passengers in the vehicle of an impaired driver—an adult who should have known better.

If you or someone you love was a victim of an irresponsible, intoxicated driver, we can help. Click here to fill out our online case evaluation form.