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Alcohol-Impaired Driving

Crashes involving a driver with BAC >= 0.08 or reported as drinking

% of All Fatalities

24.5%

Total Fatalities

85,664

2015–2023

2023 Fatalities

7,685

Trend

↓ Decreasing

-9.4% change

Yearly Trend

Year Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities All Fatalities % of Total
2015 10,245 35,484 28.9%
2016 10,389 37,806 27.5%
2017 10,313 37,473 27.5%
2018 9,671 36,835 26.3%
2019 9,592 36,355 26.4%
2020 10,636 39,007 27.3%
2021 8,647 43,230 20.0%
2022 8,486 42,721 19.9%
2023 7,685 40,901 18.8%

About This Data

Alcohol-Impaired Driving-related fatalities are tracked by the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Note that crash cause categories are not mutually exclusive — a single fatal crash may involve multiple contributing factors (e.g., alcohol impairment combined with speeding). The percentage shown represents the share of all traffic fatalities where alcohol-impaired driving was identified as a contributing factor.

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Data covers 2015–2023. This information is for research and informational purposes only.