One person is killed every half-hour due to drunk driving.
Each year approximately 16,000 people on average are killed in alcohol related crashes.
Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all traffic fatalities.
Every other minute a person is seriously injured in an alcohol related crash.
In 2006, there were 13,470 fatalities in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver (BAC of .08 or higher) – 32 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year.
16,005 people were killed in the United States in alcohol-related* motor vehicle traffic crashes (BAC of .01 or higher).
In 2006, 1,794 children age 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes. Of those 1,794 fatalities, 306 (17%) occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Children riding in vehicles with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher accounted for half (153) of these deaths.
The 13,470 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities in 2006 were almost the same as compared to 13,451 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities reported in 1996. Ten years of progress.
The 13,470 fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes during 2006 represent an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 39 minutes.
The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes was four times higher at night than during the day.
The percentage of drivers with BAC of .08 or above in fatal crashes was highest for motorcycle operators (27 percent), followed by light trucks (24 percent), and then passenger cars (23 percent). The percentage of drivers with BAC levels of .08 or higher in fatal crashes was the lowest for large trucks (1%).
In fatal crashes in 2006, the highest percentage of drivers with a BAC level of .08 or higher was for drivers ages 21-24 (33%), followed by ages 25-34 (29%) and 35-44 (25%).
Drivers with a BAC level of .08 or higher involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired (DWI) than were drivers with no alcohol (8% and 1%, respectively).
In 2006, more than 8,200 (55%) of the drivers involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking had a BAC of .15 or greater.
As in previous years, in 2006, males comprise a majority, about 81 percent, of all drivers involved in fatal crashes with a BAC=.08+.
There are more than 82 million drinking–driving trips in a given year at BACs of 0.08 percent and higher (and 10 percent of drinking–driving trips are at BACs of 0.08 percent and higher). There are only 1.5 million arrests for drinking and driving each year
Drinking drivers are at least seven times more likely to cause a fatal crash compared to sober drivers.

Each year over 250,000 people are seriously injured in alcohol related crashes, costing billions of dollars in loss wages, disability, hospitalization, high insurance payouts and premiums, higher taxes. Families are torn apart because either one or both bread winners are unable to work, therefore unable to provide for their families. Businesses suffer because of job replacement, having to train temporary or permanent replacements for the injured worker. This is more then a social problem. This is a disease in our communities that can and must be stopped.