Sobering Facts:
Alcohol-Impaired Driving

1,080 people were killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in Connecticut from 2009-2018. Working together, we can help keep people safe on the road every day.

• Drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above the state’s legal limit are considered alcohol-impaired by law.
• More than 10,000 people in the United States die each year in crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
• Because of dedicated efforts, rates of alcohol-impaired driving and alcohol-impaired fatal crashes in the United States have gone down since the 1980s.
• Still, alcohol-impaired drivers get behind the wheel millions of times each year.

ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING DEATH RATES BY AGE

Per 100,000 Population

Percentage OF ADULTS WHO REPORT DRIVING AFTER DRINKING TOO MUCH

DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING

12.6 million Americans reported driving under the in uence of marijuana or other illicit drugs in 2018. Driving while impaired is illegal in the United States. Impaired driving happens when someone operates a vehicle while impaired by a substance like marijuana, other illicit drugs, some prescribed or over-the-counter medicines, or alcohol. Polysubstance use (using more than one drug or using drugs and alcohol together) also makes driving dangerous.

Deaths in crashes involving a driver with BAC ≥ 0.08%. Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2018 Fatality rates based on fewer than 20 deaths are suppressed.

Percentage of adults who report driving after drinking too much. Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2018