Underage Drinking Statistics

• Each year, thousands of teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking.
  
  
• All States and the District of Columbia now have 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws.
  
  
• In 2009, 33% of the young drivers (15 to 20 years old) who were killed in crashes had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .01 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher; 28% had a BAC of .08 or higher.
  
  
• Drivers are considered to be alcohol-impaired when their BAC is .08 g/dL or higher.  Thus, any fatality occurring in a crash involving a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher is considered to be an alcohol-impaired-driving fatality.  Alcohol involvement or drinking crashes include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher.
  
  
• The severity of crash increases with alcohol involvement.  In 2009, 2% of the 15-20-year-old drivers involved in property-damage-only crashes had been drinking, 4% of those involved in crashes resulting in injury had been drinking, and 24% of those involved in fatal crashes had been drinking.
  
  
• For young drivers (15 to 20 years old), alcohol involvement is higher among males than among females.  In 2009, 27% of the young male drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking at the time of the crash, compared with 15% of the young female drivers involved in fatal crashes.
  
  
• Among young drivers ages 15 to 20, 625 drivers were killed at the age of 20 – highest in this age category; 41 percent of these drivers were drinking – highest in this age category.
  
  
• The number of 15- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes who had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher dropped by 37 percent, from 1,932 in 2000 to 1,210 in 2009.
  
  
• Drivers are less likely to use restraints when they have been drinking.  In 2009, 60% of the young drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained.
  
  
• Of the young drivers who had been drinking and were killed in crashes, 70% were unrestrained.
  
  
• NHTSA estimates that the 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws have reduced traffic fatalities involving 18 to 21 years old by 13% and have saved an estimated 27,677 lives since 1975.
  
  
• In 2009, an estimated 623 lives were saved by minimum-drinking-age laws.
  
  
• Teens and parents both need a strong reminder:  underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences.
  
  
• Too many people still don’t understand that alcohol and driving don’t mix.  Impaired driving is no accident; it is not a victimless crime.
  
  
• Violators of underage drinking laws often face a trip to jail, the loss of their drivers license, and dozens of other unanticipated expenses, including attorney fees, court costs, and other fines.  Plus, there is the added embarrassment, humiliation, and potential loss and consequence related to academic eligibility, college acceptance, scholarship awards, and more.
  
  
• Most of those killed in alcohol-related crashes involving teen drivers are the young drivers themselves and their passengers.

Source:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Traffic Safety Facts 2008 Data – Young Drivers