December 2004 A Brief Statistical Summary Published by the Mathematical Analysis Division DOT HS 809 824

Fatalities Related to Impaired Driving During the 

Christmas and New Year’s Day Holiday Periods

Traffic Safety Facts

Crash•Stats

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590 

Introduction

In the past, about 45 percent of all fatalities during the Christmas 

and New Year holiday periods, on an average, have occurred in 

crashes where at least one of the involved drivers was impaired1

as compared to about 30 percent of all fatalities during the rest of 

December. This year, NHTSA’s projections2 show that an estimated 

total of 410 persons will be fatally injured in motor vehicle traffic 

crashes during each of the three-day Christmas Holiday and New 

Year Holiday Periods. If the trend continues, about 185 persons 

will be killed in crashes involving an impaired driver during each 

of the two holiday periods.

This Crash•Stats presents data that highlights the higher rate of 

involvement of impaired drivers in fatal crashes during the two 

holiday periods in December and compares the trend with the rate 

of involvement during the rest of the days in December. The number of such fatalities per day (fatalities averaged over the number 

of days in the holiday) during the two holiday periods is higher as 

compared to fatalities per day during the rest of December.

Table 1

Fatalities per Day in Crashes involving an Impaired Driver by 

Holiday Period, 1998-2003

Fatalities Percent of 

Holiday Period per Day Total Fatalities

New Year’s Day 52 42%

Christmas 49 40%

December Weekends 45 40%

December Weekdays 25 21%

Whole Year 36 31%

Results

Recent data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System 

(FARS, 1998 to 2002) show that fatalities associated with impaired 

driving, expressed as number of fatalities per day, are higher during 

the Christmas and New Year Day Holiday periods as compared to 

the fatalities occurring during the other weekends in December as 

well as weekdays in December leading up to the holiday period. 

In order to study overall trends in fatalities that occur in crashes 

involving at least one impaired driver, FARS data from 1982 to 2003 

were used. Figure 1 presents the percent of all motor vehicle traffic 

fatalities that occur in such crashes during the two holiday periods 

in December and compares the data with those from the other 

days in December. The trend in Figure 1 shows that in most of the 

years, the percent of all fatalities that occur in crashes involving at 

least one impaired driver is the highest during the New Year’s Day 

holiday period followed by the percentage during the Christmas 

holiday period. These percentages are consistently higher than 

that for the other days in December. The New Year Day’s holiday 

period for a given year shown in Figure 1 includes the holiday 

period towards the end of the December for the year as well as 

the period falling on the next year. For Example, the 1982 New 

Year’s Day Holiday Period includes 6pm on 12/30/82 to 6am on 

1/03/83.

Figure 1

Fatalities That Occur in Crashes Involving at Least One 

Impaired Driver as a Percent of All Fatalities

1

With BAC = 0.08 g/dl or above.

2

Using methodology outlined in Time Series Analysis and Forecast of Crash Fatalities during Six Holiday Periods DOT HS 809 718

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

1982 (3)

1983 (3)

1984 (4)

1985 (1)

1986 (4)

1987 (3)

1988 (3)1989 (3)

1990 (4)

1991 (1)

1992 (3)1993 (3)

1994 (3)

1995 (3)

1996 (1)

1997 (4)

1998 (3)

1999 (3)

2000 (3)

2001 (4)2002 (1)

2003 (4)*

Year (Number of Days in Holiday Period)

Percent Source: NCSA, FARS 1982-2002 (Final), 2003 (ARF) *Data for January 2004 is not yet available

Christmas

New Years

Rest of December

Of all motor vehicle fatalities that occurred, a greater percent during 

the two holiday periods occurred in crashes that involved at least 

one impaired driver as compared to the other days in December. 

Also, for most of the years in the period from 1982 to 2003, the percentage for New Year’s Day Holiday period was greater than the 

percentage for the Christmas Day holiday period. Since the number of days covered in the holiday periods varies over the years, 

it will be noteworthy to compare the average number of fatalities 

per day for each holiday period. Table 2 depicts this comparison.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590 

Table 2

Fatalities and Fatalities per Day in Crashes Involving at Least One Driver with BAC=0.08+ by Holiday Period, 1998-2003

 Christmas Holiday Period New Year Holiday Period** Rest of December 

 Total Involving at least Total Involving at least Total Involving at least

 Year Days* Fatalities one Impaired Driver Days* Fatalities one Impaired Driver Days* Fatalities one Impaired Driver 

 Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities 

 per Day* per Day* per Day*

 1982 3 455 230 66 3 371 224 64 26 3,058 1,376 52

 1983 3 352 191 55 3 345 189 54 26 3,008 1,266 48

 1984 4 638 346 77 4 493 246 55 23 2,812 1,130 49

 1985 1 152 72 48 1 222 119 79 29 3,213 1,161 40

 1986 4 506 246 55 4 534 259 58 26 3,196 1,243 47

 1987 3 409 194 55 3 406 199 57 27 3,436 1,226 45

 1988 3 511 243 69 3 443 184 53 26 3,515 1,232 47

 1989 3 551 273 78 3 420 184 53 25 3,220 1,156 46

 1990 4 564 238 53 4 438 208 46 23 2,685 973 42

 1991 1 131 49 33 1 164 90 60 29 3,024 1,022 35

 1992 3 409 160 46 3 370 169 48 27 2,869 891 33

 1993 3 401 172 49 3 370 174 50 26 2,819 869 33

 1994 3 453 184 53 3 392 150 43 26 2,978 923 35

 1995 3 351 142 41 3 419 169 48 25 2,919 913 36

 1996 1 167 62 41 1 191 102 68 29 3,438 1,010 35

 1997 4 476 158 35 4 540 213 47 26 3,093 838 32

 1998 3 362 148 42 3 354 151 43 27 3,276 898 33

 1999 3 480 198 57 3 467 219 63 26 2,988 776 30

 2000 3 441 177 51 3 356 142 41 25 2,805 791 31

 2001 4 601 233 52 4 571 238 53 23 2,743 808 35

 2002 1 131 52 35 1 216 101 67 29 3,395 991 34

 2003 4 512 194 49 4 N/A N/A N/A 27 2,988 811 30

Source: NCSA FARS 1982-2002 (Final), 2003 (ARF)

*Days as displayed are number of whole days in holiday period. However, to compute fatalities per day, the six-hour periods (0.25 days) leading to and following the whole days in the 

holiday period are included. For example, to compute the rate for 1982, the number of days is 3+0.25+0.25=3.5 days. 

**New Year Holiday period for e. For Example, the 1982 

New Year’s Day Holiday Period includes 6pm on 12/30/82 to 6am on 1/03/83.

As seen in Table 2, the average number of fatalities in crashes 

involving at least one impaired driver per day during both of the 

holiday periods is greater than the average for the rest of December. 

On an average, the magnitude of this difference is 40 percent 

higher for the Christmas and New Year’s Day Holiday periods. 

However, during years in which the holiday is just one day, For 

additional copies of this publication, please call 1-800-934-8517 or 

fax your request to (202) 366-3189. For questions regarding the data 

reported in this publication, contact Rajesh Subramanian [202-366-

5371]. Internet users may access this publication and other general 

information on highway traffic safety at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.

dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html the number of 

fatalities per day for New Year’s Day is much higher (almost twice) 

than that for Christmas Day and for the rest of December.

In summary, fatalities in crashes that involve one or more impaired 

drivers appear to increase significantly during the Christmas and 

New Year’s Day Holiday periods. The number of fatalities per day 

of the holiday period in such crashes during both the Christmas 

Day and New Year’s Day holiday periods is significantly higher 

than the fatalities per day for the rest of December.

For additional copies of this publication, please call 1-800-

934-8517 or fax your request to (202) 366-3189. For questions 

regarding the data reported in this publication, contact Rajesh 

Subramanian [202-366-5371] or Cejun Liu [202-366-5354]. 

Internet users may access this publication and other general 

information on highway traffic safety at: http://www-nrd.

nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html