What proportion of motor vehicle crashes involves alcohol?
The most reliable information about alcohol involvement comes from fatal crashes. In 1999, 28 percent of fatally injured drivers had BACs of at least .10 percent. Although alcohol may not have been a causal factor in all of the crashes, this statistic is frequently used to measure the change over time in alcohol involvement in fatal crashes. In 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 30 percent of all traffic deaths occurred in crashes in which at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of .10 percent or more and that any alcohol was present in 38 percent of all fatal crashes in 1999. Such statistics are sometimes cited as proof that a third to half of all fatal crashes are caused by “drunk driving” and that none of the crashes that involve alcohol would occur if the alcohol were not present. But this is incorrect and misleading because alcohol is only one of several factors that contribute to crashes involving drinking drivers. Furthermore, some fatal
