Drunken Driving Rates Down, but Still Too High

Americans admit driving drunk about 112 million times in 2010, according to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That’s a 30 percent drop—a significant decline—from the peak of 161 million self-reported cases of alcohol-impaired driving recorded in 2006, according to the CDC.

But drinking and driving remains “a public health problem with far-reaching effects,” said Linda C. Degutis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. About 11,000 people die every year in crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.

“Drunk drivers, who have delayed reaction times and reflexes, put even the most responsible drivers and pedestrians in harm’s way,” she said.

The CDC report is based on the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey of U.S. adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Respondents who reported drinking were asked, “During the past 30 days, how many times have you driven when you’ve had perhaps too much to drink?”

According to the survey:

• About 2 people out of every 100 admitted to drinking too much, then driving. Some reported doing so daily.
• Men accounted for 81 percent of the drinking-and-driving incidents in 2010. And young men ages 21 to 34 accounted for 32 percent of the incidents, even though they represent just 11 percent of the population.
• Binge drinking and drunk driving go hand-in-hand. Binge drinkers reported 85 percent of the drinking-and-driving episodes. (The CDC defines binge drinking as five or more drinks for men or four or more drinks for women in a short time.)
• The 4.5 percent of adults who reported binge drinking at least four times a month accounted for 55 percent of all reports of alcohol-impaired driving.
• About 33 percent of all accidents—fatal and nonfatal—involve at least one driver who was driving impaired.

Although drinking-and-driving incidents were down for 2010, alcohol consumption and binge drinking remained stable. People may be driving less and drinking at home to save money in a bad economy, according to the CDC.

Learn more about the dangers of drinking and driving here.