Skip Navigation LinksSkip Navigation Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Safer Healthier People
Blue White
Blue White
bottom curve
CDC Home Search Health Topics A-Z spacer spacer
spacer
Blue curve MMWR spacer
spacer
spacer

Quarterly Table Reporting Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Motor-Vehicle Crashes

The following table reports alcohol involvement in fatal motor-vehicle crashes in the United States for October-December 1992. This table, published quarterly in MMWR, focuses attention on the impact of alcohol use on highway safety.

A fatal crash is considered alcohol-related by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) if either a driver or nonoccupant (e.g., pedestrian) had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL in a police-reported traffic crash. Those with a BAC greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL (the legal level of intoxication in most states) are considered intoxicated. Because BACs are not available for all persons in fatal crashes, NHTSA estimates the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities based on a discriminant analysis of information from all cases for which driver or nonoccupant BAC data are available. There may be seasonal trends associated with these data.

Table_1
Table_1
Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.


Estimated number and percentage of total traffic fatalities * and drivers involved in
fatal crashes, by age and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level -- United States,
October-December, 1992
==============================================================================================
                                           Fatalities, by BAC +
                         ------------------------------------------------------
                          BAC=0.00 g/dL    BAC=0.01-0.09 g/dL   BAC >=0.10 g/dL
Age group      No.       ---------------   ------------------   ---------------
  (yrs)    fatalities &   No.      (%)        No.     (%)         No.     (%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 0-14           579        438    (75.7)       44    ( 7.6)        97    (16.7)
15-20         1,512        902    (59.7)      192    (12.7)       418    (27.7)
21-24         1,119        451    (40.3)      136    (12.2)       532    (47.5)
25-34         1,958        781    (39.9)      175    ( 8.9)     1,002    (51.2)
35-64         3,299      1,733    (52.5)      248    ( 7.5)     1,318    (40.0)
 >=65         1,861      1,537    (82.6)      106    ( 5.7)       218    (11.7)

Total        10,328      5,842    (56.6)      901    ( 8.7)     3,584    (34.7)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Drivers, @ by BAC **
                         ------------------------------------------------------
                          BAC=0.00 g/dL    BAC=0.01-0.09 g/dL   BAC >=0.10 g/dL
Age group                ---------------   ------------------   ---------------
  (yrs)    No. drivers &  No.      (%)        No.     (%)         No.     (%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 0-14 ++         34         28    (81.5)        4    (10.5)         3    ( 8.0)
15-20         1,907      1,452    (76.1)      162    ( 8.5)       293    (15.4)
21-24         1,710      1,043    (61.0)      163    ( 9.5)       504    (29.4)
25-34         3,396      2,206    (64.9)      230    ( 6.8)       960    (28.3)
35-64         5,161      3,993    (77.4)      242    ( 4.7)       926    (17.9)
 >=65         1,489      1,371    (92.0)       34    ( 2.3)        84    ( 5.7)

Total        13,697     10,093    (73.7)      835    ( 6.1)     2,770    (20.2)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * Fatalities include all occupants and nonoccupants who died within 30 days of a
   motor-vehicle crash on a public roadway.
 + BAC distributions are estimates for drivers and nonoccupants involved in fatal crashes.
   Numbers of fatalities are rounded to the nearest whole number.
 & Includes only those for whom age is known.
 @ Driver may or may not have been killed.
** BAC distributions are estimates for drivers involved in fatal crashes. Numbers of drivers
   are rounded to the nearest whole number.
++ Although usually too young to drive legally, persons in this age group are included for
   completeness of the data set.

Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
==============================================================================================


Return to top.

Disclaimer   All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.

**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.

Page converted: 09/19/98

HOME  |  ABOUT MMWR  |  MMWR SEARCH  |  DOWNLOADS  |  RSSCONTACT
POLICY  |  DISCLAIMER  |  ACCESSIBILITY

Safer, Healthier People

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd, MailStop E-90, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A

USA.GovDHHS

Department of Health
and Human Services

This page last reviewed 5/2/01