Impaired Driving in America: Enforcement, Testing & Impact

The Scope of Impaired Driving in the United States

Today, there is increasing concern over the potential traffic safety risks associated with impaired driving (Owusu-Bempah, 2014). A growing body of evidence confirms an inextricable relationship between higher levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents (Owusu-Bempah, 2014). While the number of alcohol-impaired driving incidents decreased by a substantial 30% from its peak in 2006 — falling from 161 million to 112 million in 2010 — alcohol-impaired driving remains responsible for thousands of American deaths each year (McNamara, 2011).

Although there was an overall decline in the incidence rate for impaired driving since 2006, geographic differences persist across the United States, and some states continued to experience increased rates in 2010 (McNamara, 2011). For instance, Midwestern drivers had substantially higher annual impaired driving rates compared to the national average, and four of the seven states that experienced above-average rates in 2010 were in the Midwest (McNamara, 2011). The reasons for the overall decline since 2006 remain unclear, but some analysts cite the Great Recession of 2008, which reduced bar and restaurant patronage — a reduction that would have had a corresponding impact on impaired driving rates (McNamara, 2011).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, even with this modest progress, nearly 30 people die every day in the United States as a result of a motor vehicle collision involving an alcohol-impaired driver — a rate equivalent to one fatality every 51 minutes (Impaired driving, 2015). This human toll is staggering, but the economic impact of impaired driving is also enormous, estimated at more than $59 billion each year (Impaired driving, 2015). As McNamara observed, "In fact, alcohol-impaired driving is involved in about one-third of all motor vehicle crash fatalities. Therefore, continued and strengthened efforts to decrease drinking and driving are essential" (p. 4).

Some of the key findings by the CDC concerning the impact of impaired driving on American society include the following:

• In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
• Of the 1,149 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2013, 200 (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.
• Of the 200 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2013, over half (121) were riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver.
• In 2010, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics — a figure that equals approximately one percent of the 112 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.
• Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths, and these substances are often used in combination with alcohol (Impaired driving, 2015, para. 3).

Who Is Most at Risk: High-Risk Driver Categories

The drivers currently at greatest risk for impaired driving fall into three primary categories, as described below.

Young people. At all levels of blood alcohol concentration, the risk of being involved in a crash is greater for young people than for older people. Among drivers with BAC levels of 0.08% or higher involved in fatal crashes in 2013, one out of every three were between 21 and 24 years of age (33%). The next two largest groups were ages 25 to 34 (29%) and 35 to 44 (24%).

Motorcyclists. Among motorcyclists killed in fatal crashes in 2013, 27% had BACs of 0.08% or greater. Nearly half of all alcohol-impaired motorcyclists killed each year are age 40 or older, and motorcyclists ages 40–44 have the highest percentage of deaths with BACs of 0.08% or greater (44%).

Drivers with prior DWI convictions. Drivers with a BAC of 0.08% or higher involved in fatal crashes were six times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired (DWI) than were drivers with no alcohol in their system (6% and 1%, respectively) (Impaired driving, 2015).

Evidence-Based Interventions to Reduce Impaired Driving

In response to continuing impaired-driving offenses, a number of tools have been introduced to facilitate the identification of impaired drivers by law enforcement — tools designed to measure BAC and support criminal convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) (Owusu-Bempah, 2014). As Owusu-Bempah notes, "Devices used to estimate BAC from a breath sample, such as the breathalyzer, have become increasingly sophisticated and reliable and are thus widely accepted by the courts" (2014, p. 220). To date, however, there have been no corresponding limits or reliable tools available to police officers for identifying cannabis-impaired drivers (Owusu-Bempah, 2014). This is an important constraint because, after alcohol, cannabis is the most widely used drug in North America (Owusu-Bempah, 2014).

Other interventions identified as effective in reducing impaired driving rates include the following:

1. Actively enforcing existing 0.08% BAC laws, minimum legal drinking age laws, and zero-tolerance laws for drivers younger than 21 years old in all states.
2. Promptly suspending the driver's licenses of people who drive while intoxicated.
3. Using sobriety checkpoints — traffic stops where law enforcement officers assess drivers' level of alcohol impairment. These checkpoints consistently reduce alcohol-related crashes, typically by 9%.
4. Implementing health promotion efforts that influence economic, organizational, policy, and school/community action.
5. Using community-based approaches to alcohol control and DWI prevention.
6. Requiring mandatory substance abuse assessment and treatment, if needed, for DWI offenders.
7. Raising the unit price of alcohol by increasing taxes.
8. Installing ignition interlocks — devices installed in the vehicles of people convicted of driving while impaired that prevent vehicle operation by anyone with a BAC above a specified safe level (usually 0.02%–0.04%). When installed, interlocks are associated with approximately a 70% reduction in arrest rates for impaired driving (Impaired driving, 2015, para. 4).

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