HIGHLIGHTS OF YEAR 2005 CALIFORNIA DUI MIS REPORT
Alcohol-involved traffic fatalities rose by 2.0% in 2003, continuing a
reversal in trend that started in 1999 after well over a decade of
continuous decline.
DUI arrests increased by 3.7% in 2003, following an increase of 0.3% in 2002, representing the first consecutive years of increases in California DUI arrests in almost two decades.
The number of persons injured in alcohol-involved crashes fell by 2.2%
in 2003, following increases of 0.7% in 2002, 2.7% in 2001 and 3.8% in
2000 (which was the first such increase in 14 years).
14.8% of all 2002 DUI arrests in California were associated with a reported traffic crash, compared to 14.1% in 2001, 13.5% in 2000, 12.5% in 1999, 12.8% in 1998, 12.3% in 1997, 12.6% in 1996, 12.4% in 1995, 13.2% in 1994 and 13.1% in 1993. 42.8% of these crashes involved an injury or fatality.
The average blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of a convicted DUI
offender, as reported by law enforcement on APS forms, was .162% in 2002,
down slightly from the last several years, yet more than double the
California illegal per se BAC limit of .08%.
Among 2003 DUI arrestees, Hispanics (44.2%) again constituted the largest racial/ethnic group, as they have each year since 1992 (with the exception of 1999). Hispanics, however, continued to be arrested at a rate substantially higher than their estimated percentage of California
