The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Washington, D.C. released a new nationwide report that estimates the number of drivers considered driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated. The percentages of all motorists driving drunk ranged from a low of 9.5% in Utah to a high of 26.4% in Wisconsin. Several other states in the upper Midwest ranked high on the list, including North Dakota at 24.9 percent and Minnesota at 23.5 percent.
On average 15.1 percent of U.S. drivers 18 or older drove while legally intoxicated at least once in the past year. The 2008 data release is the first time a projection of drunk driving in the nation has been compiled.
The report was based on state level information on DUI and DWI incidents and pervasiveness, as well as data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. The combined number of drivers surveyed over a three year period totaled 127,283.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that there were about 16,700 traffic related deaths in 2004 involving a driver under the influence of alcohol.
The SAMHSA report also revealed that about 5% of adult drivers drove under the influence of illicit drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin and prescription drugs used nonmedically.
SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline hopes the report highlights the scope and nature of national issue of driving under the influence, and helps direct resources and prevention efforts. The full report is available at .
State Estimates of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs in the Past Year among Current Drivers Aged 18 or Older: Average of 2004-2006
* The standard error (SE) is a measure of these sampling variability of an estimate, where smaller values represent greater precision and larger values represent less precision.
SOURCE: Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2004-2006
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the
Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible
for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the
nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and
mental health services delivery system.
