Alcohol Alert !

In 2006, 1,794 children age 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes. Of those 1,794 fatalities, 306 (17%) occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Children riding in vehicles with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher accounted for half (153) of these deaths.

The 13,470 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities in 2006 were almost the same as compared to 13,451 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities reported in 1996. Ten years of progress.

The 13,470 fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes during 2006 represent an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 39 minutes.

2006 Drunk Driving Statistics



[edit on 19-11-2008 by delta33]

I love numbers like these. Man do they make any kind of gun deaths look small. I wonder why they don't ban alcohol. Oh ya probably because it dumbs down people making them more pliable. People who use alcohol excesively are alot easier to tame and break than people who use guns.

Man that's sad. I hope someone will read this and think before they hop behind the wheel hammered. It's not the DUI you should worry about, it's some innocent child you could accidentally kill. Good post, hope someone gets a clue from it.

look at all these deaths and it just amazes me that alcohol is pushed by so many as a normal thing to do,

im 21 and go to college, and honestly if you dont drink it just feels weird to be out with people, its like you have to which is terrible because i dont like alcohol, only rarley and in moderation

but yet, all these deaths and herb is still illegal
and ill get in more trouble on the board for mentioning a substance that kills zero people, with no ill affects, but we can talk about the thousands killed be a govermented legal drug.

what a world

yah... cause banning things makes life better

Look it's a brutal strain on our economy and social lives and economics that Alcohol and duis have become a felony...

What your showing is the reality, that Deaths haven't changed at all really as a result, But Millions of Americans have Felonies... less people go OUT and spend money into the economy for fears of duis

and the money funds an abusive legal system from the fines, along with the war on drugs this is tearing us apart...


Yet, the same Idiots who can't handle their booze...are still causing the accidents in the same numbers, because really most people who have a couple for drinks want to get home alive, this is, the young and the alcoholic at work and... it changes nothing.

I'd estimate in a large city on a weekend night 50,000 - 100,000 people get behind the wheel snookered... most of them don't cause accidents, allot of them will go to jail in an attempt to stop, largely a handful of personalities that, lack the ability to show self control and get moronic behind the wheel after a couple of drinks...



What do Most cities lack and COULD solve the issue...

Genuine late night, Public TRANSPORTATION

City shuttles that go to your door for a fair price, cab vouchers from the bar, perhaps a small booze tax to pay for it... and upkeep on public transportation through the night i.e. you don't sit alone if your a woman at a vacant bus stop for 2 hrs...a Misery

Shuttles to and from bus stops enclosed terminals for weather with maybe coffee...

Thing is Prohibition doesn't work

some people think you shouldn't go out and drink...

and what happens is, they ruin life for everyone else, it sucks to have to drive.... but getting home is a nightmare, provide the services, it will make money, make jobs, and it's win/win because Night life is a Huge part of the economy and those that say it's SIN look to eliminate it...


Here in AZ... there are no buses after Midnight, your left with NO CHOICE, this is the case everywhere

a simple Sin Tax... helps the economy, make sobs provides transportation... every red light district should have transportation, every public bus system should have shuttle voucher system to get you home safe


what we really have is ... I like to go out to drink and conservatives that think, i'm a piece of POOP for doing so, so they Force you to drive and use it as an excuse to arrest you, prohibition...

Not a damn Bus in the city at night here, and that's abusive, even barring booze, sometimes a person might be lost or need to get somewhere, it should be 24/7 always in any city, it's dangerous to be walking around through various neighborhoods to get home and i've done it too much in my life

simple public services would be a Win/Win situation... we don't need the police to be our enemies

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


They tried banning it, made more a problem than it solved. It's why we have a Amendment that cancels a earlier amendment.

reply to post by robertnesta


yeah and the same jerks that force you to drive... keep pot illegal too...

and yeah, I'd rather smoke weed than drink too, so I get what your saying... pointing fingers at people doesn't help though.

I'd like to reserve the right to control my head as I see fit and do it safely and not under threat by cop or by the street.

Originally posted by mopusvindictus

I'd like to reserve the right to control my head as I see fit and do it safely and not under threat by cop or by the street.

true that brother, nature's miracle plant hated on by people who rape the land

Remember we are not free to talk about the War on drugs on ATS.

Keep this post about Alcohol or it will be put in rats like all of the other War on drugs posts.

We cant say a word about a plant that has never killed anyone.

[edit on 19-11-2008 by delta33]

What I will never understand is the conflicting laws on this subject. It is illegal to drink and drive, but it is legal to sell alcohol in bars.

It's simple to me.
Once you have taken alcohol into your system, your ability to drive becomes impaired, regardless of what people think, this is a fact.

Someone who kills while drunk driving should be charged with murder - plain and simple.

Someone who kills while driving with alcohol in their system should be charged with murder - even if they don't feel drunk, their ability to drive safely has been seriously impaired by the consumption of alcohol.

Strain on the economy my ass - the much bigger strain is cleaning up the mess that these inconsiderate fools make, every time they got out in a car to have a few drinks.
Police time
Hospital time
Time off work injured
Insurance premiums (car and health)
Court time

Lock them up - this is what the selfish bastards deserve - how dare someone endanger the life of another person just because they cannot be bothered to walk or take a cab when they go out drinking.

They are, in effect, saying "my pleasure is more important than the life of another human being"

Lock them up, take away their license, hell shoot them in the kneecaps to stop them doing it again for all I care, but stop them doing it.

Originally posted by delta33
The 13,470 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities in 2006 were almost the same as compared to 13,451 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities reported in 1996. Ten years of progress.

While I agree that any alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities are too many, given the population growth, over those 10 years, there actually has been progress. If you look at the statistics as "percentage of the population", then there certainly has been an improvement.

reply to post by budski

Agreed, I have had so many friends and people I know negatively affected by drunk driving. Two of my best friends are now basically crippled and brain damaged for life because they were hit by a drunk 16 year old girl who dident even have a learner's permit and who on top of that was driving a stolen car and also fled the scene - she got away with 4 months jail time and some probation and had to attend at least 5 AA meetings.

We as a country do not view DWI as a serious crime, in fact it is just viewed as a minor little mistake ... even if someone is killed or injured its not seen as a big deal really. We need to start taking away licenses for life and charging drunk drivers with manslaughter in cases of deaths and attempted murder in cases of injury.

The 2 of my friends that were hit now have this to think about for the rest of their lives but yet the girl that hit them (in violation of several NYS Penal Code acts) basically walked scot free. She never showed any emotion in court and actually pled not guilty.

[edit on 19-11-2008 by ChrisF231]

"Of those 1,794 fatalities, 306 (17%) occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes."
The problem here is the statistics.
They are based upon flawed data.
The problem is because even if the accident was not directly caused due to driver negligence due to being under the influence of alcohol.
It is immediately labeled as an alcohol impaired related fatality even when the accident investigation proves the accident would most likely have occurred without the presence of alcohol.
They neglect to tell you this.
Even when someones brakes malfunction due to corporate skimping on vehicle safety, or tires malfunction, they label it as an alcohol related fatality.
If a person jumps from a landing onto a moving car and dies, obviously unpreventable by the driver.
And the driver had some alcohol in the blood, in these statistics they say alcohol was to blame.
They lie to you about statistics everyday.

Most people believe whatever they were told... particulalry when some one holds up a victim, particularly a child victim.

The reality of drinking and driving is

It should be determined by an officer weather the person is guilty of negligent homicide in an accident or not as it always was

The real is 10's of thousands of people do it every night in every city and... the majority of them now their limits and get home okay or wait to drive until they are okay...

These accidents when caused are caused by people behaving like idiots, driving when half blind from booze or showing off

and there are charges to deal with those people and do so well and they deserve it...

That doesn't mean that a couple of glasses of wine at dinner and a pull over for no reason should land a person a felony

I Live in WALKABLE zones only because of this stupidity of the law

I remain and live in 0 risk

But with that said, I can be 1.0 and drive circle around a typical senior citizen

Impairment? Take a great driver and impair them and he/she is still tops over some of the genetically flawed mutants they give drivers licenses to

There are people on the road that should never be there!!!!

The guy too fat to see his feet

The senile

The prescription dope crowd

Illegals who can't read all the frackin signs

Youth the 16-21 crowd (not all but many are nuts)

The anxiety prone

Those subject to Heart Attack and Stroke

Mentally Challenged/Mental Disordered


I can drive better after 2 Martinis than any of the above... period!

I don't, but I could

Impaired depends on who your standing next to and .8 especially for some people is not genuinely a danger zone.

They should lift it back to 1.2 and let those of us who can handle ourselves catch a break...

1.2 is enough for a glow and you can go out, have a good time wait an hr... and drive home, you just can't get plowed... which is fine...

Going out and staying sober entirely, sucks


There should be one law, and it comes down to ALL the evidence involved

"Driving Like an Idiot"

It would cover all the accidents, because many, many people Die everyday and, the guy who crossed the double yellow line the wrong way because he worked a double shift for 16 hrs... doesn't get slammed but... the .8 guy enjoying his life and being careful can be put away even if someone blows a red light and hits him... ruin his life, when he did nothing wrong

The laws are made for morons in America

Blanket policies that are designed to appease special interests, but don't make for justice at all the majority of the time.

The vast majority of fatalities are caused by a minority of problem drunks. The law is a compromise to allow some freedom while cutting down on the problems these people cause. The reality is that in any large population, there will be some fatalities due to general risks we take of any kind. The alternative is tyranny.

But if you want tyranny, how about tackling these:

Cell phone drivers

Lipstick applying drivers

Exhausted drivers

Reading drivers

Unlicensed and uninsured drivers

Medicated drivers

Unskilled drivers

Young, irresponsible drivers

Old, skill-diminished drivers

NASCAR-loving drivers

etc., etc., etc. ...

It's drivel like this that gets people killed every day on the roads.

Some macho numpty thinks he can "take his drink", goes out for a few, then mows down some innocent because they cannot fully concentrate on the job in hand.

All people who drive having taken drink are an accident waiting to happen.

But of course it's much easier to blame something else than alter behaviour, which is the epitome of selfish behaviour.

The FACT is that a very small amount of alcohol impairs judgement, reflexes and the decision making process - regardless of how some think they can "handle their drink"

I'm about as anti-drug as you can get. I consume no drugs, not even caffeine. And I'm appalled at the irresponsibility of drunk drivers and the often fatal consequences of their selfishness. Nevertheless, banning the substance will not work. Until such time as people grow out of the need to intoxicate themselves in various ways, we have to deal with reality. The reality is that people will do what they do, legal or illegal. The best we as a society can do to keep irresponsibility in check is to provide avenues to control the damage.

I think mopusvindictus's idea about better, more affordable late night public transportation is sound, not just to curb drunk driving incidents, but in general. We desperately need better public transportation all over this country, not just restricted to major metropolitan areas, and not just in daylight hours. The world doesn't go to sleep at 10 PM anymore, and taxi rides are not economical for many people. It would be more environmentally sound as well in that more people could afford to live flexible and free lives without needing their own car.

Granted, it would suit me just fine if people did not drink or use any other recreational drugs at all. I dislike drug use very much, for many reasons. But reality is reality. People should have the freedom to do what they want to themselves so long as it does not harm others. When it does, we need to address the situation intelligently and with respect to reality.

Any statistics available that show how many people drive drunk and don't get in any accidents or trouble? I'm just curious as to what the percentage is, maybe in a per-hour comparison. Maybe driving drunk is a relatively safe thing to do, if you have all the figures related to it.

Like Mark Twain, I'm a big skeptic of statistics.

Yes very sad,my ex wifes real dad was a successful contractor in the San Fernando Valley,something set him off and he started drinking again,we found him a year later flat broke living in a dive trailer in Winterhaven Calif,near the Salton Sea,he died 2 yrs later after all we did and tried to get him to sober up,but the will for the bottle was too great,drank himself to death