NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590



DOT HS 810 920 February 2008

Traffic Safety Facts

Research Note

Fatalities and Fatality Rates in Alcohol-

 Impaired Crashes by State, 2005-2006

Rajesh Subramanian

Summary

In 2006, as compared to 2005, while the overall fatality rate 

declined from 1.46 to 1.41 fatalities per 100 million vehicle 

miles of travel (VMT), the alcohol-impaired fatality rate 

remained flat at 0.45 fatalities per 100 million VMT. In 2006, 

the alcohol-impaired fatality rate declined from 2005 in a 

total of 26 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, 

and remained flat or increased in the remaining 24 States.

In all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 

it is illegal per se to drive or operate a motorcycle with a 

blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter or above. The impaired driving programs at the National 

 Highway Traffic Safety Administration target drivers who 

drive at or above the illegal per se level. This research note 

presents, by State, fatality rates in crashes that involved at 

least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC=.08+ 

— defined as alcohol-impaired crashes.

Results

This note uses the 2005 Final and 2006 Annual Report File 

(ARF) of NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 

as well as the VMT data that was released by the FHWA 

in December 2007 to compute the fatality rate in alcoholimpaired crashes (alcohol-impaired fatality rate). Estimates 

of alcohol involvement are generated using a combination 

of BAC values that are reported to FARS and imputed BAC 

values when they are not reported to FARS. 

Figure 1 maps the rate of alcohol-impaired fatalities per 100 

million VMT for each State in 2006. The States are color-coded 

as to whether their rates are at or above (light green, white) 

the national rate of 0.45, or below the national rate (dark 

green, grey). Table 3 (page 3) depicts the fatalities and fatality 

rates underlying Figure 1, by State for 2005 and 2006.

Figure 1

Alcohol-Impaired Fatalities per 100 Million VMT by State, 2006

Alcohol-Impaired Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT Under .30

U.S. Rate = 0.45

Source: National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2006 FARS Annual Report File

.30 – .45

.46 – .60 .61 and Over

AL

AK

AZ AR

CA CO

CT

DE

DC

FL

PR

GA

HI

ID

IL IN

IA

KS KY

LA

ME

MD

MA

MI

MN

MS

MO

MT

NE NV

NH

NJ

NM

NY

NC

ND

OH

OK

OR

PA

RI

SC

SD

TN

TX

UT

VT

VA

WA

WV

WI

WY


Table 1 depicts the proportion of the alcohol-impaired driving fatalities that lie within the four categories of alcoholimpaired fatality rate shown in the map in Figure 1. About 

6 percent of all alcohol-impaired fatalities occurred in States 

with a alcohol-impaired fatality rate under 0.30, about 46 percent occurred in States with the rate between 0.30 and 0.45, 

about 31 percent occurred in States with rates between 0.46 

and 0.60 and the remaining 18 percent of the alcohol-impaired 

fatalities occurred in States with rates of 0.61 or above. 

As shown in the Table 2, in the 26 States and the District of 

Columbia that showed a decrease in their alcohol-impaired 

fatality rate, there were 513 fewer alcohol-related fatalities 

in 2006, as compared to 2005. This, however, was offset by 

an increase of 402 fatalities for the 24 States that showed an 

increase or no change in their alcohol-impaired fatality rate 

in 2006. In all crashes in 2006, as compared to 2005, among 

the 31 States and the District of Columbia that showed a 

decline in the overall fatality rate, there were 1,391 fewer 

fatalities, which were offset by an increase of 523 fatalities in 

the 19 States where the overall rate was flat or higher in 2006 

as compared to 2005.

Table 1

Alcohol-Impaired Fatalities and Percentage of Total Alcohol-­Impaired 

Fatalities By Alcohol-Impaired Fatality Rate Category, 2006

AlcoholImpaired 

Fatality Rate

Number of 

States

AlcoholImpaired 

Fatalities Percent of U.S.

Under 0.30 4 739 6%

0.30 – 0.45 24 + D.C. 6,133 46%

0.46 – 0.60 11 4,129 31%

0.61 & Over 11 2,470 18%

U.S. - 13,470 100%

Table 2

Fatalities and Fatality Rates by Categories of Increasing and Decreasing Rates in 2006 as Compared to 2005, U.S.

2006 Rates 

as Compared to 2005 Rates

Fatalities in All Crashes

Fatalities in Crashes Involving at Least 

One Driver/Motorcycle Operator With BAC=.08+

Number of States Change in Fatalities Number of States Change in Fatalities

States With Higher/Flat Rates 19 +523 24 +402

States With Lower Rates 31 + D.C. -1,391 26 + D.C. -513

U.S. - -868 - -111

Components may not add to U.S. totals due to independent rounding.

Alcohol-Impaired Fatality Rates by State

Impaired-driving laws have been enacted in all 50 States and 

the District of Columbia that make it illegal for a driver or a 

motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or above to drive a 

vehicle. In 2006, the alcohol-impaired fatality rate remained 

flat at 0.45 fatalities per 100 million VMT. In 2006, Montana 

had the highest alcohol-impaired fatality rate in the Nation 

– 0.91 fatalities per 100 Million VMT while Utah had the lowest rate in the Nation – 0.21 per 100 million VMT. In 2005, 

the same States, i.e., Montana and Utah had the highest and 

lowest alcohol-impaired fatality rates in the Nation – 0.97 

and 0.13 fatalities per 100 million VMT; respectively. Table 3 

tabulates the overall fatalities as well as the alcohol-impaired 

fatalities and the corresponding fatality rates per 100 million 

VMT by State for 2005 and 2006 for the 50 States, District of 

Columbia and Puerto Rico. The fatality data is from NHTSA’s FARS while the VMT data are estimates from the Federal Highway Administration’s Traffic Volume Trends.

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590


NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

Table 3

Total Alcohol-Impaired Fatalities and the Corresponding Fatality Rates per 100 Million VMT, 2005-2006

State

2005 2006

Total

In Alcohol-Impaired Crashes 

(Involving at least one driver /MC 

operator with BAC=.08+) Total

In Alcohol-Impaired Crashes 

(Involving at least one driver /

MC operator with BAC=.08+)

Fatalities Rate Fatalities Rate Fatalities Rate Fatalities Rate

Alabama 1,148 1.92 373 0.63 1,208 2.00 384 0.64

Alaska 73 1.45 29 0.58 74 1.49 20 0.40

Arizona 1,179 1.97 375 0.63 1,288 2.06 409 0.65

Arkansas 654 2.05 180 0.56 665 2.01 197 0.60

California 4,333 1.32 1,298 0.39 4,236 1.29 1,276 0.39

Colorado 606 1.26 206 0.43 535 1.10 177 0.36

Connecticut 278 0.88 98 0.31 301 0.95 109 0.34

Delaware 133 1.40 51 0.54 148 1.57 43 0.46

Dist of Columbia 48 1.29 19 0.51 37 1.02 12 0.33

Florida 3,518 1.75 1,106 0.55 3,374 1.66 959 0.47

Georgia 1,729 1.52 433 0.38 1,693 1.49 464 0.41

Hawaii 140 1.39 54 0.54 161 1.58 63 0.62

Idaho 275 1.85 82 0.55 267 1.76 84 0.55

Illinois 1,363 1.27 458 0.43 1,254 1.17 444 0.42

Indiana 938 1.31 254 0.35 899 1.26 247 0.35

Iowa 450 1.45 94 0.30 439 1.40 122 0.39

Kansas 428 1.44 101 0.34 468 1.55 135 0.45

Kentucky 985 2.08 249 0.52 913 1.91 222 0.46

Louisiana 963 2.14 334 0.74 982 2.16 364 0.80

Maine 169 1.13 50 0.34 188 1.25 51 0.34

Maryland 614 1.09 165 0.29 651 1.16 193 0.34

Massachusetts 441 0.80 148 0.27 430 0.78 137 0.25

Michigan 1,129 1.09 327 0.31 1,085 1.04 332 0.32

Minnesota 559 0.98 163 0.29 494 0.87 151 0.27

Mississippi 931 2.32 322 0.80 911 2.20 320 0.77

Missouri 1,257 1.83 420 0.61 1,096 1.59 380 0.55

Montana 251 2.26 108 0.97 263 2.33 103 0.91

Nebraska 276 1.43 74 0.38 269 1.39 70 0.36

Nevada 427 2.06 135 0.65 432 1.98 142 0.65

New Hampshire 166 1.24 54 0.40 127 0.93 47 0.35

New Jersey 747 1.01 203 0.27 772 1.02 224 0.30

New Mexico 488 2.04 149 0.62 484 1.88 136 0.53

New York 1,434 1.03 417 0.30 1,456 1.03 397 0.28

North Carolina 1,547 1.53 429 0.42 1,559 1.54 420 0.41

North Dakota 123 1.62 46 0.61 111 1.41 41 0.52

Ohio 1,321 1.20 395 0.36 1,238 1.11 377 0.34

Oklahoma 803 1.71 232 0.49 765 1.57 201 0.41

Oregon 487 1.38 125 0.35 477 1.34 148 0.42

Pennsylvania 1,616 1.50 526 0.49 1,525 1.41 487 0.45

Rhode Island 87 1.05 34 0.41 81 0.98 29 0.35

South Carolina 1,094 2.21 436 0.88 1,037 2.07 420 0.84

South Dakota 186 2.22 70 0.83 191 2.08 69 0.75

Tennessee 1,270 1.79 376 0.53 1,287 1.82 408 0.58

Texas 3,536 1.50 1,320 0.56 3,475 1.46 1,354 0.57

Utah 282 1.12 33 0.13 287 1.11 54 0.21

Vermont 73 0.95 28 0.36 87 1.11 26 0.33

Virginia 947 1.18 279 0.35 963 1.19 300 0.37

Washington 649 1.17 238 0.43 630 1.11 225 0.40

West Virginia 374 1.82 110 0.54 410 1.96 129 0.62

Wisconsin 815 1.36 322 0.54 724 1.22 305 0.51

Wyoming 170 1.88 54 0.60 195 2.07 67 0.71

U.S. 43,510 1.46 13,582 0.45 42,642 1.41 13,470 0.45

Puerto Rico 457 2.35 160 0.82 507 2.58 144 0.73

Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2005 Final and 2006 ARF Files, FHWA Traffic Volume Trends VMT Data