By LawReader Senior Editor Stan Billingsley Sept. 22, 2009
Statistics released by the US Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shown a marked decline in DUI related deaths since 1982 both nationally and in Kentucky. In 2006 Kentucky had the 2nd. lowest per cent of DUI fatalities in the nation. (DUI fatalities vs. all traffic fatalities in state.)
Kentucky DUI statistics reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding DUI fatalities defines “alcohol related death” as any traffic incident in which any person involved, including non-drivers were impaired.
“It is important to note that the Kentucky drunk driving statistics, as shown (below), include data from individuals who were in an alcohol-related crash, but not driving a motor vehicle at the time.” – US Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
This statistical method of reporting DUI traffic deaths by Kentucky means that the actual number of Kentucky traffic fatalities actually caused by a drunk driver are actually less than reported.
Kentucky statistics do not report the number of cases in which the drunk driver was the cause of the collision or wreck vs. instances in which the impaired person was only a passenger, pedestrian, or bicyclist. The word “related” is used in the statistics. The investigating police officer makes the call if a collision was “alcohol related” and his accident report is the data from which the national statistics are compiled. These accident reports are not allowed to be introduced into evidence in Kentucky due to their unreliability.
It is possible that a driver who was impaired may have been driving properly and a “sober” driver or pedestrian caused the wreck or collision. Such incidents are classified as a “alcohol related fatality.” Even if the wreck or collision was caused by a non-drinking party. Thus the reported DUI fatality statistics are skewed in favor of making the actual number of fatalities “caused by drunk drivers” appear higher.
The statistics, by including non-drivers, paint a false positive picture of the actual number of traffic fatalities caused by a drunk driver, and incorrectly imply to the public that all “alcohol related” reported fatalities were caused by a drunk driver.
ATV Fatalities
Kentucky leads the nation so far in 2009 in deaths caused by ATV’s (all terrain vehicles). Through Sept. 17, 2009 there have been 14 ATV related deaths in Kentucky. None of the persons killed wore a helmet.
There are 4 million people in Kentucky. If each citizen averaged 3,000 miles of driving per year, that would indicate 12 billion miles of travel. Divided by 200 DUI related traffic deaths that means that there is one DUI traffic related fatality per 60,000,000 miles driven.
Assuming that there are 100,000 ATV’s in Kentucky and each driver travels 100 miles per year on their ATV, this means that there is one ATV fatality for every 714,000 miles driven. This indicates that a person is 84 times more likely to be killed on an ATV than killed by a drunk driver.
| YEAR |
TOTAL TRAFFIC FATALITIES in KENTUCKY |
DUI RELATED FATALITIES |
% OF DUI FATALITIES TO ALL TRAFFIC FATALITIES |
| 1982 |
822 |
482 |
59 |
| 1983 |
778 |
435 |
56 |
| 1984 |
754 |
389 |
52 |
| 1985 |
712 |
343 |
48 |
| 1986 |
805 |
398 |
49 |
| 1987 |
844 |
407 |
48 |
| 1988 |
838 |
411 |
49 |
| 1989 |
772 |
341 |
44 |
| 1990 |
849 |
371 |
44 |
| 1991 |
826 |
380 |
46 |
| 1992 |
815 |
333 |
41 |
| 1993 |
871 |
338 |
39 |
| 1994 |
779 |
309 |
40 |
| 1995 |
849 |
302 |
36 |
| 1996 |
843 |
317 |
38 |
| 1997 |
857 |
301 |
35 |
| 1998 |
858 |
306 |
36 |
| 1999 |
813 |
300 |
37 |
| 2000 |
820 |
280 |
34 |
| 2001 |
845 |
251 |
30 |
| 2002 |
915 |
302 |
33 |
| 2003 |
928 |
276 |
30 |
| 2004 |
964 |
308 |
32 |
| 2005 |
985 |
313 |
32 |
| 2006 |
913 |
257 |
28 |
| 2007 |
864 |
212 |
25 |
| 2008 |
826 |
200 |
24 |
Kentucky Drunk Driving Statistics
“In Kentucky, the total number of traffic fatalities actually increased since 1982, however, both the number and percentage of alcohol related deaths decreased. The highest year for both was 1982. In 2006, out of all traffic fatalities, 24% involved a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher.
All 50 states in the US now apply two statutory offenses to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The first (and original) offense is known either as driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). This is based upon a police officer’s observations (driving behavior, slurred speech, the results of a roadside sobriety test, etc.)
The second offense is called “illegal per se”, which is driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Since 2002 it has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC that is 0.08% or higher.
It is important to note that the Kentucky drunk driving statistics, as shown above, include data from individuals who were in an alcohol-related crash, but not driving a motor vehicle at the time. The U.S. Department of Transportation defines alcohol-related deaths as “fatalities that occur in crashes where at least one driver or non-occupant (pedestrian or bicyclist) involved in the crash has a positive Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) value.”
The fatality rates shown above refer to the number of people killed in all traffic accidents and, separately, in alcohol related traffic accidents, per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Criminal status of DUI laws in Kentucky
In Kentucky, 1st offense is a class B misdemeanor, 2nd offense within 5 years is a class A misdemeanor, 3rd offense within 5 years with a BAC under .18 is a class A misdemeanor, 3rd offense with a BAC of .18 or higher is a class D felony; 4th and subsequent offenses are class D felonies. Citation:§§189A.010(5), 532.020 & 532.060 (2)
Sources for Kentucky drunk driving information and statistics US Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 12/02
National drunk driving statistics in the US
Alcohol related deaths in the US since 1982:
|
|
Total fatalities |
Alcohol related fatalities |
|
|
Year |
Number |
Number |
Percent |
|
1982 |
43,945 |
26,173 |
60 |
|
1983 |
42,589 |
24,635 |
58 |
|
1984 |
44,257 |
24,762 |
56 |
|
1985 |
43,825 |
23,167 |
53 |
|
1986 |
46,087 |
25,017 |
54 |
|
1987 |
46,390 |
24,094 |
52 |
|
1988 |
47,087 |
23,833 |
51 |
|
1989 |
45,582 |
22,424 |
49 |
|
1990 |
44,599 |
22,587 |
51 |
|
1991 |
41,508 |
20,159 |
49 |
|
1992 |
39,250 |
18,290 |
47 |
|
1993 |
40,150 |
17,908 |
45 |
|
1994 |
40,716 |
17,308 |
43 |
|
1995 |
41,817 |
17,732 |
42 |
|
1996 |
42,065 |
17,749 |
42 |
|
1997 |
42,013 |
16,711 |
40 |
|
1998 |
41,501 |
16,673 |
40 |
|
1999 |
41,717 |
16,572 |
40 |
|
2000 |
41,945 |
17,380 |
41 |
|
2001 |
42,196 |
17,400 |
41 |
|
2002 |
43,005 |
17,524 |
41 |
|
2003 |
42,643 |
17,013 |
40 |
|
2004 |
42,518 |
16,919 |
39 |
|
2005 |
43,443 |
16,885 |
39 |
|
2006 |
42,532 |
15,829 |
37 |
|
2007 |
41,059 |
15,387 |
37 |
Drinking and driving fatalities by state in 2006 (ranked by highest number of alcohol related deaths):
|
State |
Total Fatalities |
Alcohol-Related Fatalities |
|
|
Number |
Percent |
||
| Texas |
3,466 |
1,544 |
45% |
| California |
4,229 |
1,509 |
36% |
| Florida |
3,363 |
1,111 |
33% |
| Pennsylvania |
1,517 |
556 |
37% |
| Illinois |
1,254 |
540 |
43% |
| Georgia |
1,688 |
539 |
32% |
| Arizona |
1,280 |
502 |
39% |
| North Carolina |
1,558 |
490 |
31% |
| New York |
1,454 |
483 |
33% |
| Tennessee |
1,286 |
478 |
37% |
| South Carolina |
1,037 |
477 |
46% |
| Missouri |
1,087 |
469 |
43% |
| Ohio |
1,235 |
451 |
37% |
| Alabama |
1,206 |
445 |
37% |
| Louisiana |
982 |
425 |
43% |
| Michigan |
1,081 |
390 |
36% |
| Mississippi |
911 |
358 |
39% |
| Wisconsin |
722 |
352 |
49% |
| Virginia |
961 |
347 |
36% |
| Indiana |
896 |
290 |
32% |
| New Jersey |
771 |
285 |
37% |
| Washington |
630 |
269 |
43% |
| Kentucky |
913 |
257 |
28% |
| Arkansas |
665 |
245 |
37% |
| Oklahoma |
765 |
243 |
32% |
| Maryland |
651 |
235 |
36% |
| Colorado |
533 |
207 |
39% |
| Oregon |
477 |
177 |
37% |
| Minnesota |
493 |
175 |
36% |
| Nevada |
432 |
168 |
39% |
| Kansas |
466 |
162 |
35% |
| Massachusetts |
422 |
159 |
38% |
| New Mexico |
484 |
155 |
32% |
| West Virginia |
408 |
155 |
38% |
| Iowa |
439 |
142 |
32% |
| Connecticut |
301 |
121 |
40% |
| Montana |
255 |
114 |
45% |
| Idaho |
267 |
102 |
38% |
| Nebraska |
266 |
86 |
32% |
| South Dakota |
191 |
78 |
41% |
| Wyoming |
195 |
78 |
40% |
| Hawaii |
160 |
77 |
48% |
| Maine |
188 |
70 |
37% |
| Utah |
284 |
63 |
22% |
| New Hampshire |
127 |
51 |
40% |
| Delaware |
148 |
50 |
34% |
| North Dakota |
111 |
47 |
42% |
| Rhode Island |
81 |
37 |
46% |
| Vermont |
86 |
28 |
33% |
| Alaska |
73 |
23 |
31% |
| Dist of Columbia |
37 |
14 |
36% |
| National |
42,532 |
15,829 |
37% |
| Puerto Rico |
507 |
176 |
35% |
The number of traffic fatalities in 2008 reached its lowest level since 1961. There was a 9.7-percent decline in the number of people killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States, from 41,259 in 2007 to 37,261, according to NHTSA’s 2008 Fa-tality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) (see Figure 1). This decline of 3,998 fatalities is the largest annual reduction in terms of both number and percentage since 1982. More than 90 percent of this reduction was in passenger vehicles, which make up over 90 percent of the fleet of registered vehicles. Passenger car occupant fatalities declined for the sixth con-secutive year, and are at their lowest level since NHTSA be-
gan collecting fatality crash data in 1975. Light-truck occu-pant fatalities dropped for the third consecutive year, and are at their lowest level since 1998. However, motorcyclist fatalities continued their 11-year increase, reaching 5,290 in 2008, accounting for 14 percent of the total fatalities. Data from previous years has shown that while motorcycle registrations have increased, the increase in motorcyclist fatalities has increased more steeply. The data shows a decrease in fatalities for all person types except motorcyclists and pedalcyclists.