Printer Friendly Version
E-mail this Article
December is National Drunk Driving Prevention Month. These alarming statistics show the need for an annual effort to increase awareness of the unnecessary dangers caused by driving under the influence of alcohol:
• In 2008, there were 11,773 deaths in crashes involving a driver with a blood-alcohol-level (BAC) of .08 or higher, accounting for 32 percent of all traffic deaths for the year.
• Alcohol-related crashes cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion each year. People other than the drunk driver pay 63 percent of the alcohol-related crash bill.
• Drivers with a BAC of .08 or higher involved in fatal crashes are eight times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired than are drivers without an elevated BAC.
• About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of drunken driving are repeat offenders.
