A 1992 Summary of Statistics

:The Impaired Driving Problem.

Drink Driving is not an accident; it is a violent crime -- the most freqently committed in the Nation today.

Every 26 minutes someone in the United States is killed in an alcohol-related car crash.

In 1991, 19,900 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes and approximately 318,000 persons suffered injuries, an average of one personly every 1.5 minutes -- 84,000 of these were serious injuries.

Based on current statistics, about 2 in every 5 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.

Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for every age between the ages of 5 and 32. 48% of these crashes are alcohol-related.

Even at BACs as low as .02% (one drink), alcohol affects driving ability and crash likelihood.

the proportion of fatal crashes that are alcohol-related is about 3 times greater at night than during the day.

Direct costs of alcohol-related fatalities are estimated to be $46 billion yearly. An additional $102 billion is lost in quality of life due to these crashes.

Numerous research studies indicate that use of lap and shoulder safety belts reduce the risk of fatal or seious injury by a factor of 40 to 55%.

In 1991, 102 driver and/or passengers were killed in alcohol-related crashes on Long Island. In addition, 24 pedestrians died as a result of alcohol-related crashes; 20 of whom were themselves intoxicated.

Since MADD's inception in 1980, alcohol-related traffic fatalites have decreased by about 28.9%. the proportion of drivers aged 15-20 involved in fatal crashes who were intoxicated dropped from 31% in 1982 to 20% in 1991.

A SUMMARY OF STATISTICS ON ALCOHOL-RELATED CRASHES PROVIDED BY NHTSA, THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY, AND THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL.