School Resource Officer
Statistics for Alcohol
Related Accidents (2003)
Alcohol-Related Crashes and Fatalities
A motor vehicle crash is considered to be
alcohol-related if at least one driver or non-occupant (such as a
pedestrian or cyclist) involved in the crash is determined to have
had a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.01 gram per deciliter
(g/dl) or higher. Thus, any fatality that occurs in an
alcohol-related crash is considered an alcohol-related fatality. The
term “alcohol-related” does not indicate that a crash or fatality
was caused by the presence of alcohol.
Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes fell by 2.9 percent,
from 17,524 in 2002 to 17,013 in 2003. The 17,013 alcohol-related
fatalities in 2003 (40 percent of total traffic fatalities for the
year) represent a 5 percent reduction from the 17,908
alcohol-related fatalities reported in 1993 (45 percent of the
total).
The 17,013 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2003
represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31
minutes.
