STATE ALCOHOL RELATED FATALITY RATES

Alcohol related fatalities are defined as fatalities that occur in crashes where at least one driver or nonoccupant (pedestrian or pedalcyclist) involved in the crash has a positive Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) value. This report examines the extent of alcohol related fatalities in traffic crashes across states and over time and normalizes this data by estimating the rate of these fatalities as a function of the Annual Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT) data for that state. The rate of alcohol related fatalities as a measure of the State's VMT serves as an important metric for States and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Regions to evaluate the effectiveness of their drunk-driving countermeasures as well as assess the performance of their alcohol programs relative to their states and regions.