9,288

people were killed in crashes 

involving an alcohol-impaired 

driver in California from 

2009-2018. 

Sobering Facts: Alcohol-Impaired Driving 

CALIFORNIA

KEEP CALIFORNIA SAFE 

Keep alcohol-impaired drivers off the road. 

This fact sheet provides a snapshot of alcohol-impaired 

driving deaths and an overview of proven strategies to reduce 

or prevent alcohol-impaired driving. The information can 

help decision makers and community partners see gaps and 

identify relevant strategies to address the problem of alcoholimpaired driving. 

FAST FACTS 

• 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 

Deaths in crashes involving a driver with BAC ≥ 0.08%. Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2018 

ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING DEATH RATES BY SEX 

Per 100,000 Population 

Deaths in crashes involving a driver with BAC ≥ 0.08%. Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2018 

PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS WHO REPORT DRIVING 

AFTER DRINKING TOO MUCH
 In the Past 30 Days 

   Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 20

Working together, we can help keep people safe on the road—every day. 

www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/states 
 

 

 

 

WHAT WORKS
 The strategies in this section are effective for reducing or preventing alcoholimpaired driving. They are recommended by The Guide to Community Preventive 

Services and/or have been demonstrated to be effective in reviews by the 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.* Different strategies might 

require different resources for implementation or have different levels of impact. 

Find strategies that are right for your state. 

Strategies to Reduce or Prevent Alcohol-Impaired Driving 

• Alcohol-impaired driving laws make it illegal to drive with a BAC at or above 

a specified level (0.05% or 0.08%, depending on the state). For people under 

21, zero tolerance laws make it illegal to drive with any measurable amount of 

alcohol in their systems. These laws, along with laws that maintain the minimum 

legal drinking age at 21, are in place in all 50 states and DC and have saved tens 

of thousands of lives. 

• Publicized sobriety checkpoints allow police to briefly stop vehicles at specific, 

highly visible locations to check drivers for impairment. Police may stop all or a 

certain portion of drivers. Sobriety checkpoints should be well publicized (e.g., 

through mass media campaigns) and conducted regularly for greatest impact. 

• High-visibility saturation patrols consist of a large number of police patrolling 

a specific area, usually at times and locations where alcohol-impaired driving 

crashes are more common. Like sobriety checkpoints, these patrols should be 

well publicized and conducted regularly. 

• Ignition interlocks for all, including first-time, convicted offenders can be 

installed in vehicles to measure alcohol on drivers’ breath. Interlocks keep vehicles 

from starting if drivers have a BAC above a certain level, usually 0.02%. Interlocks 

are highly effective at preventing repeat offenses while installed. Incorporating 

alcohol problem assessment and treatment into interlock programs shows 

promise in reducing repeat offenses once interlocks are removed. 

• Alcohol problem assessment and treatment programs can be used for those 

arrested for alcohol-impaired driving. Treatment is most effective when combined 

with other sanctions and when offenders are closely monitored. Assessment and 

treatment are critical to the success of DWI courts, which are specialized courts 

focused on changing the behavior of alcohol-impaired driving offenders. 

• Alcohol screening and brief interventions take advantage of “teachable 

moments” and can be delivered in health care, university, and other settings to 

identify people at risk for alcohol problems and get them treatment as needed. 

• Multi-component interventions combine several programs or policies to 

prevent alcohol-impaired driving. The key to these comprehensive efforts is 

community mobilization, which involves coalitions or task forces in design and 

implementation. 

• School-based instructional programs are effective at teaching teens not to ride 

with alcohol-impaired drivers. 

IN CALIFORNIA:
 • It is illegal to drive with a BAC 

at or above 0.08%. 

• Publicized sobriety checkpoints 

are allowed. 

• Ignition interlocks are required 

for convicted repeat offenders. 

For up-to-date information on 

laws in your state, check with the 

Insurance Institute for Highway 

Safety at www.iihs.org. 

Find more information at 

www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety 

• Injuries, costs, and other data 

related to alcohol-impaired 

driving. 

• Detailed information on effective 

strategies to reduce or prevent 

alcohol-impaired driving. 

• An interactive calculator to 

estimate the expected number 

and monetized value of injuries 

prevented, lives saved, and 

costs of implementation for 14 

effective interventions. 

*Source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide), Motor Vehicle-Related Injury Prevention, at www.thecommunityguide.org, and 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2018) Countermeasures that work: a highway safety countermeasures guide for State Highway Safety Offices, 

Ninth edition, at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/812478_countermeasures-that-work-a-highway-safety-countermeasures-guide-.pdf July 2020