Nearly Four in Ten Drunk Driving Deaths Are Not the Drunk Driver, New Study of 2024 Crash Data Finds

Alcohol impaired driving was involved in 30% of all U.S. traffic deaths in 2024, according to a new analysis of national and state crash data from Siegfried & Jensen. That is 11,904 lives, about 32 per day, or one every 44 minutes. The drunk driving death toll fell 4% from 2023 but remains well above 2019, when just over 10,000 people died. The study finds that the harm reaches well beyond the drivers who choose to drink. Impaired drivers made up 61% of those killed. The other 39% were passengers (12%), people in other vehicles (16%), and pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-occupants (11%).

Most deaths involve heavy drinking rather than drivers barely over the limit. In 68% of alcohol related deaths, a driver had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or higher, nearly twice the legal limit of .08. According to MADD, 33 people are killed and 943 are injured in drunk driving crashes every day. The effects spread to tens of millions of family members, friends, and coworkers each year.

The share of traffic deaths involving alcohol varies widely by state. Vermont ranks highest, with 41% of its road deaths (24 of 59) involving an impaired driver. South Carolina and Texas follow at 40% each, and Texas also leads the country in volume with 1,676 alcohol impaired deaths. Montana, Ohio, and Rhode Island are next at 37%, followed by Oklahoma and Kansas at 35%, and Arizona and California at 34%. These states span New England, the South, the Midwest, and the West. The study suggests that local factors such as enforcement, road design, tourism, and drinking culture matter more than region.

Alaska has the lowest share in the country: alcohol was involved in 19% of its road deaths (13 of 70). Georgia, Minnesota, and Mississippi follow at about 23%, with Kentucky and Florida at 24%. That leaves a gap of more than 20 percentage points between the highest and lowest states.

The study points to rural roads as one explanation for the high risk in many top-ranking states. Nationally, rural roads have a fatality rate 1.5 times higher than urban roads. In Vermont, rural roads are 4.7 times deadlier, the largest gap in the country. Lower seat belt use, thinner enforcement, and longer emergency response times in rural areas make it more likely that an impaired driving crash will be fatal. In many of these states, the issue may be lower survival odds after a crash rather than more drinking behind the wheel.

The data also shows who is most likely to die. Men account for 75.5% of drunk driving deaths, more than three times the share for women (24.3%). People aged 25 to 34 make up the largest share at 23.9%, followed by 35 to 44-year-olds at 18.4%, so these two working-age groups account for almost 42% of deaths. People aged 21 to 24 represent 10.8%. Those aged 16 to 20 account for 8.6%, which means the risk starts before the legal drinking age. The shares then fall with age to 11.6% for 55 to 64, 6.6% for 65 to 74, and 4.1% for those over 75.

Time of day and time of year also make a big difference. About 69% of alcohol impaired fatal crashes happen at night. July is the deadliest month, with about 9% of the year’s alcohol impaired deaths. In July, 33% of alcohol related deaths involved a driver at .15 BAC or higher, compared with 7% in January. Holidays add to the risk. Across Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and the Christmas and New Year’s period, 37.4% of fatal crashes involved a drunk driver, compared with about 30% the rest of the year. During the 2024 Fourth of July holiday alone, 579 people died on U.S. roads. Drivers over the legal limit made up 38% of drivers involved, and drivers aged 21 to 34 accounted for 47% of impaired deaths.