Drunk Driving Statistics Part 22

Thirty percent of Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related accident.

Recurrent bingers (those who have five or more drinks at a time five or more times in the past month) are only in the region of six percent of the US population, but drink about half of the alcohol. Binge drinkers (those who have five or more drinks on any occasion) compromise only something like 20 percent of the US population, but drink approximately 83 percent of the alcohol. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. “Drinking in America: Myths, Realities, and Prevention Policy.” Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), 2002. http://www.udetc.org/documents/Drinking_in_America.pdf


Binge drinkers were over 13 times more probable to report alcohol-impaired driving than those who drank, but did not report binge drinking. In 2002, 86.4% of the Americans 18 and older who reported driving after they had had too much to drink also reported binge drinking. Quinlan, Kyran P., et al. “Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among US Adults, 1993-2002.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 28 (4) (2005): 346-350.