{"id":5499,"date":"2016-09-01T17:43:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T23:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/?p=5499"},"modified":"2021-08-26T11:49:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T17:49:12","slug":"nhtsa-reports-largest-jump-in-drunk-driving-deaths-in-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scramsystems.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/nhtsa-reports-largest-jump-in-drunk-driving-deaths-in-10-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Released: NHTSA Reports Largest Jump in Drunk Driving Deaths in 10 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that U.S. traffic deaths increased 7.2% in 2015<\/a> compared to the previous year. Last year, 35,092 people lost their lives on America\u2019s roadways. NHTSA noted the year-over-year increase is the largest in nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n

Drunk Driving\u00a0Heading in the Wrong Direction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Alcohol-impaired crashes (where a driver had a BAC of 0.08 or higher) played a significant role in the overall increase in traffic fatalities, jumping sharply in 2015 to 10,265. While drunk-driving deaths were down for certain vehicle types\u2014including motorcycles and semi-trucks\u2014fatal crashes involving passenger cars\u00a0increased 5%.<\/p>\n

The 2015 statistics are likely to add fuel to concerns that progress on reducing drunk driving has slowed. The number of alcohol-impaired traffic deaths has stubbornly hovered near 10,000 since 2010. Dips below 10,000 deaths in 2011 and 2014 suggested that things were moving in the right direction, but a consistent downward trend hasn\u2019t materialized.<\/p>\n

Stats Differ Sharply Between States<\/strong><\/h3>\n

However, it\u2019s important to note the increase in deaths wasn\u2019t uniform across the country. Eighteen states actually had fewer alcohol-impaired fatalities in 2015 compared to 2014, with Texas leading the way with 123 fewer deaths. States that experienced the biggest increases in deaths include Arizona (+72), Florida (+103), Georgia (+87), Michigan (+55), and Oregon (+56).<\/p>\n

The following states had the highest and lowest percentages of traffic deaths tied to alcohol last year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
States with\u00a0highest<\/em> percentages of alcohol-impaired deaths in 2015<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nDrunk Driving Deaths<\/td>\n% of Total Traffic Fatalities<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rhode Island<\/td>\n19<\/td>\n43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Connecticut<\/td>\n103<\/td>\n39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North Dakota<\/td>\n50<\/td>\n38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Texas<\/td>\n1323<\/td>\n38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wyoming<\/td>\n56<\/td>\n38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
States with lowest<\/em> percentages of alcohol-impaired deaths in 2015<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nDrunk Driving Deaths<\/td>\n% of Total Traffic Fatalities<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Utah<\/td>\n43<\/td>\n16%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New Jersey<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Indiana<\/td>\n178<\/td>\n22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iowa<\/td>\n78<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kansas<\/td>\n84<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

See the results for all states and read the full 2015 Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n