State and National Rates of Alcohol-Related Accidents
According to the most recent data from Responsibility.org, there were 1,069 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in 2018. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 30% of all traffic-related fatalities for the year. There were 113 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities involving individuals under the age of 21 accounting for 28.8% of the total under 21 traffic-related fatalities for the year.
National Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatality Data
In 2018, there were 10,511 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities across the United States, accounting for 28.8% of the total traffic fatalities in the country. 908 of those accidents involved under 21 drivers, accounting for 24% of under 21 traffic-related fatalities in 2018.
10-Year Change (2009-2018)
As noted by Responsibility.org, there was an 8.1% change in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 people in California. This is compared to the United States which experienced an 8.4% decrease during the same ten year period (2009-2018).
The under 21 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100k in the population decreased significantly in both California and across the country. In California during the 10-year period there was a decrease of 21.7% and in the United States there was a reduction of 28.3%.
Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and Alcohol-Impaired Driving
Nearly 70% of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities involved a driver with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15% or higher. In California the rate was 69.8% and nationally the rate was 70.0%.
Additionally, in California 22.1% of drivers in fatal crashes involving repeat offenders had a BAC of .08-14%, while 77.9% had a BAC of .15% or higher. Nationally, 25.4% had a BAC of .08-.14% and 74.6% had a BAC of .15% or higher.