How Many Drunk Driving Deaths In 2020?
How Many Drunk Driving Deaths Will Occur in 2020?
If you’re wondering how many drunk driving deaths will occur in 2020, it’s time to look at some statistics. In the last few years, alcohol-impaired driving has become a major cause of traffic fatalities. The numbers below show the number of people killed every year by drunk drivers. In 2020, this number will decrease to 26% of total traffic deaths, down from 35% in 2019.
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BAC of drinking drivers in fatal crashes
BACs of drinking drivers in fatal crashes vary widely. In 1999, 34 percent of fatally injured male drivers were intoxicated. For female drivers, the figure was 16 percent. In addition, fatal crashes involving alcohol were most often caused by drivers between the ages of 21 and 40.
The most dangerous times for drunken driving are at night and on weekends. In these hours, the likelihood of an accident occurring increases significantly. In 2016, about half of all fatal crashes involved a driver who had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher. Meanwhile, only five percent occurred during non-peak hours.
Rate of first-time DUI offenders
According to the latest statistics, about one-third of all fatal drunk driving crashes in the United States are caused by repeat offenders. While this doesn’t sound like much, repeat offenders have a much higher chance of being at the scene of a fatal accident than a non-convicted driver. A recent study found that drivers with a previous felony conviction had a 1.8-fold greater risk of causing a fatal accident than those without a felony conviction.
While the number of repeat offenders for drunk driving is declining, it is still too high. As a nation, the US has the second-largest vehicle population. And as the number of vehicles on our roads increases, the risk of alcohol-impaired driving increases. This is where the need for better regulation of the alcohol-impaired driving industry becomes critical.
The economic cost of alcohol-impaired driving crashes
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there will be approximately 38,824 fatalities related to motor vehicle crashes in 2020. The estimated cost of these crashes will reach $242 billion per year. The cost of these crashes is largely due to the death of drivers who are under the influence of alcohol. Death rates will also vary depending on the type of vehicle, age, and sex of the drivers involved.
Alcohol-impaired driving is still a serious problem. In the last decade, it accounted for more than 30% of total motor vehicle crash fatalities. Although this rate has stabilized in recent years, there have been notable increases in the number of alcohol-impaired crash fatalities among older riders.
Number of fatalities per year
The NHTSA has released projections for the number of drunk driving deaths each year in the United States in 2020. The agency found that more than half of these fatal crashes will involve an alcohol-impaired driver. Other contributing factors include speeding and failure to wear a seat belt. According to the projections, drunk driving deaths will rise significantly in 2020 over 2019 levels.
In the United States, approximately 11,654 people are killed every year by drunk drivers. These tragic accidents claim the lives of innocent people. It is estimated that Americans drink and drive approximately 121 million times a year – or 300,000 times each day. While only 1% of these drivers are arrested, the average driver gets behind the wheel 80 times before being caught. The risk of coming into contact with a drunk driver is high – you will likely come across a drunk driver at some point in your life.
Increase in BAC among drinking drivers
Alcohol is a primary factor in fatal crashes. In 2016, over seven thousand people died in crashes that involved at least one drunk driver. According to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a driver’s BAC is more than 0.08 percent in half of the fatal crashes between midnight and three a.m. (Figure 3). Additionally, about one-third of these crashes occurred on non-interstate roads. Forty-one percent of fatal crashes occurred on weekends.
The percentage of fatally injured drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent or higher has decreased by 41 percent since 1982. In 2020, BACs of fatally injured drivers will be higher in seven percent of all crashes. This figure will increase to more than twenty percent for large trucks and motorcycles. The number of pedestrians who died in drunk driving crashes will also increase.