Drunk drivers cause 30 percent of fatal traffic crashes in New York. Some of the NHTSA’s statistics concerning the time and place where drunk driving accidents occur include:
Slightly more drunk driving accidents occur in urban areas (55 percent), compared to rural areas (45 percent).
The vast majority of these accidents occur in clear weather, with only 7 percent occurring in rain and 3 percent occurring in other weather conditions.
70 percent of drunk driving accidents happen during the hours of darkness, with daylight accounting for 26 percent of the accidents, and dawn and dusk only accounting for 1 and 3 percent respectively.
32 percent of drunk driving accidents happen on non-interstate principal arterial roads. 20 percent happen on non-interstate minor arterial roads, and another 20 percent occur on non-interstate collector roads. 16 percent occur on non-interstate local roads, and 13 percent occur on the interstate.
Slightly more accidents occurred during the summer months of July, August, and September, as compared to the other months of the year.
The drivers in fatal traffic crashes are 3.6 times more likely to be alcohol-impaired if the accident happened during the night than they are to be alcohol-impaired in daytime crashes.
28 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes at night are alcohol-impaired, as are 15 percent of the drivers in daytime fatal crashes.