In 2010, the rate of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 population was 3.3, representing a 64% decrease since 1982, when record keeping began, and 48% since the inception of The Century Council in 1991. What this translates into is, for every 100,000 people in the US in 2010, slightly more than three people were killed in a drunk driving fatal crash, a rate that has been cut almost in half over the past two decades - down from a rate of 6.3 in 1991.
Between 1991 and 2010, the rate of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population has decreased 48% nationally, and 63% among those under 21. These statistics and others are positive indicators of the gains being made to fight drunk driving, and while The Century Council cannot claim to be the sole influence in these reductions, it is likely we have played a significant role in reaching these historic low levels. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 33,808 people died in traffic crashes in 2010 in the United States (latest figures available), including an estimated 10,839 people who were killed in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). Among the people killed in these drunk driving crashes, 65% were drivers (6,627), 28% were motor vehicle occupants (2,872), and 7% were non-occupants (729), with an average of one person dying in a drunk driving fatality every 51 minutes.
