Drunk and Drug Impaired Driving

Impaired driving is a serious problem threatening the safety of our nation's highways. Fortunately, there are methods of combating this crisis, including law enforcement, legislation and, increasingly, technology.

Driving while impaired can mean under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, or both. Some sobering statistics from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control:

  • An alcohol-related motor vehicle crash kills someone every 31 minutes and injures someone every two minutes.
  • In 2005, 39 percent of all traffic deaths in the United States involved alcohol.
  • Drugs other than alcohol (marijuana, cocaine and other narcotics) are involved in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths.
  • Each year, alcohol-related crashes cost about $51 billion.
  • Most drinking and driving episodes go undetected. Nationally, about 1.5 million drivers are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, slightly more than one percent of the 120 million self-reported episodes of impaired driving.

Sobriety checkpoints (sometimes called roadside safety checks) are a valuable component of a comprehensive enforcement strategy aimed at deterring alcohol-impaired driving. Research shows that the key to effective deterrence is the public's perception of the likelihood of being caught in violation of the law. The public identifies checkpoint activity with increased risk of apprehension. However, because of constitutional issues and legal rulings, not all states conduct sobriety checkpoints. Additionally, because sobriety checkpoints are labor intensive for law enforcement agencies, funding constraints can also limit the number of checkpoints conducted. (See GHSA's Sobriety Checkpoint Laws page for a state-by-state analysis of the use of checkpoints.)

All states have enacted various pieces of legislation and implemented comprehensive programs that address alcohol impaired driving (see GHSA's Drunk Driving Laws page). Many states have also implemented programs to train law enforcment officials to identify drug impaired driving. However, to date, few states have enacted legislation that makes drug impaired driving an offense in and of itself. Without data to help identify incidences of drug impaired driving, the actual impact of this highway safety issue is largely unknown. GHSA also monitors state laws on drug impaired driving. (See GHSA's Drug Impaired Driving Laws page for the most current information.)

Recently GHSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, International Association of Chiefs of Police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced a tough new approach to drunk driving. The approach combines a massive ad blitz with an enforcement crackdown targeting male drivers 21-34. It is expected that the national campaign will have a positive impact on reducing the incidence of drinking and driving.