Trends in Alcohol-Related Fatal Traffic Crashes, United States, 1977-93: Surveillance Report #34

• NCJ Number: 164215
• Author(s): K E Campbell; T S Zobeck; D Bertolucci
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 32 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Corporate Author: CSR Incorporated
• Sale Source: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC.

Annotation

This is the tenth annual surveillance report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on trends in alcohol-related fatal traffic crashes; it encompasses the years 1977-93.

Abstract

In 1993 the proportion of traffic crash fatalities that were alcohol related reached a 17-year low of 35.5 percent. The number of alcohol-related traffic crash fatalities decreased from 1992 to 1993, although total traffic crash fatalities increased. From 1977 to 1993, alcohol-related traffic crash fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, 100,000 population, 100,000 registered vehicles, and 100,000 licensed drivers decreased 53, 31, 37, and 39 percent, respectively. The number of years of potential life lost attributable to alcohol-related traffic crashes decreased 22 percent; for females there was an 18-percent increase. In 1993, the national rate of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing of drivers killed in traffic crashes was 69 percent, down from 73 percent in 1992. The mean BAC score for drivers involved in fatal crashes remained fairly constant across the 17-year period. Drivers aged 16 to 24 had a peak BAC level of 0.12 g/dl percent compared with 0.17 g/dl percent for drivers ages 25 to 34 and 45 and older, and 0.22 g/dl percent for drivers aged 35 to 44. Deaths associated with young drinking drivers (ages 16 to 24) decreased 44 percent from 1977 to 1993. 6 figures, 13 tables, and 28 references