Driving Under the Influence

Magnitude of the Problem

Alcohol is the single largest identifiable cause of traffic fatalities. Although the use of alcohol can increase mortality rates in a variety of ways, the problem created by alcohol-impaired drivers is that their risk of having a serious accident is significantly elevated. Alcohol-related highway accidents cause a considerable number of deaths annually in countries as diverse as France, Sweden, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The rate of these accidents is exceptionally high in the United States, where transportation policy is organized almost exclusively around the automobile and where the culture of recreation frequently features alcohol. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that three of every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related accident in their lives. In the United States in the 1980s, there were a quarter of a million traffic fatalities in which alcohol was involved. (The actual figures may be even higher because alcohol testing is not done for every accident.) A large disproportion of these fatalities occurred during nights and on weekends rather than during daytime hours on week-days. In 1982, 57.3 percent of traffic deaths were estimated to have involved alcohol. These figures describe a public health issue of extraordinary proportions.

Research reveals that there were approximately 1 million alcohol-related crashes in the United States in 1995, killing more than 17,000 people and causing injuries to hundreds of thousands more. Research further reveals that nearly half of the fatal accidents could have been avoided if the drivers had consumed no alcohol. Beyond the human carnage, alcohol-related traffic accidents are estimated to cost the United States tens of billions of dollars each year in property damage, hospital and rehabilitation expenses, and loss of productivity. In 1998 and 1999, nearly 16,000 traffic deaths −38 percent of all the traffic deaths in each of those years—involved alcohol, amounting to one alcohol-related traffic fatality every thirty-three minutes. Although such figures represent a marked decrease from 1982, the first year extensive data were collected, they reveal how devastating the problem of driving under the influence continues to be.

Government agencies have launched numerous public relations efforts to prevent accidents that often result from driving under the influence. This poster from St. Lawrence Island in Alaska seeks to appeal to both whites and Native Americans.

© Nik Wheeler/Corbis; used with permission.

Moreover, the problem is widespread. Researchers estimate that 20 percent of American drivers, approximately 33 million people, drive while impaired beyond legal alcohol limits at least once a year. Approximately one third of college students report that they have driven after drinking. Although nearly 1.5 million drivers are arrested for alcohol-impaired driving each year in the United States, this figure clearly represents a small percentage of the actual number of offenders.

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