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Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe 2002).
Groups at Risk
Male drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes are almost twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or greater (NHTSA 2004b). A BAC of 0.08% is equal to or greater than the legal limit in most states.
At all levels of blood alcohol concentration, the risk of being involved in a crash is greater for young people than for older people (Zador 2000). In 2003, 25% of drivers ages 15 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol (NHTSA 2004c).
Young men ages 18 to 20 (under the legal drinking age) reported driving while impaired almost as frequently as men ages 21 to 34 (Liu 1997).
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