Drunk driving is responsible for about 10,000 traffic deaths in the United States each year (27 deaths per day). That is ⅓ of all traffic related deaths.
At 1:00 a.m. January 1, 2014, my nephew was called by a friend who had been drinking and needed a ride. He was sleeping overnight at his grandma’s, so he had not been drinking. He hopped in his car and went to pick up his friend. We all need friends like this, and we need to be friends like this. Find a friend and be a friend in 2014, and never drink and drive.
CDC Analysis of Alcohol-Related Traffic Deaths and Prevention Efforts
This week, the CDC released a report of the agency’s analysis of traffic deaths. The agency estimates that one in 10 persons in the United States will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.
States have used blood-alcohol content (BAC) in laws meant to prevent drunk driving. The first state to do this was Indiana, which implemented a law in 1939 that had a presumptive BAC limit for impaired driving of 0.15% for drivers. A decade later, many other states had similar laws.
In the 1960s, states started lowering their statutory BAC limit to .10%. This change was in reaction to CDC and other research that found evidence of the relationship between driver BAC and fatal crashes.
In 1992, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed that states adopt 0.08% BAC laws. At the time, there was not a lot of evidence that the lower BAC level would prevent crashes. CDC and the Community Preventive Services Task Force began a systematic review of the effectiveness of 0.08% BAC laws. The results of nine studies demonstrated a median 7% decline in fatalities in states with 0.08% BAC laws. It was estimated that if all states had 0.08% BAC laws, 400–600 lives could be saved annually.
Prompted by these findings, a federal highway fund law cut funds for states without 0.08% BAC laws, based in part on the available scientific evidence demonstrating lives could be saved. By 2004, all U.S. states had enacted 0.08% BAC legislation.
Additional work is needed to further reduce the incidence of fatalities related to alcohol-impaired driving in the United States: The CDC suggests the following measures, and we agree:
- use of ignition interlocks and sobriety checkpoints;
- enforcement of primary seatbelt laws;
- reduction of binge drinking; and
- lowering the BAC limits to 0.05%.
Attorneys Fred Pritzker, and Eric Hageman are our lead lawyers for our accident cases involving drunk drivers. They have won millions for clients in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against drunk drivers, bus and truck companies, bars and restaurants (dram shop wrongful death claims), and others. You can contact our lawyers for a free consultation here.
