Drunk Driving Deaths Dropped in 2014, But the News Isn’t All Good

In November the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the official traffic fatality statistics for 2014, including fatalities tied to alcohol-related crashes. Last year drunk driving deaths fell to 9,967, finally dropping below 10,000 for the first time since 2011. Overall traffic fatalities also declined.

NHTSA tempered the good news about the drop in deaths with some cautionary notes. First, drunk driving deaths still make up about one-third of all traffic fatalities—a proportion that has remained largely unchanged for many years. Critics argue that the consistency of this proportion could mean that drops in alcohol-involved traffic deaths might be tied to factors like safer cars and other general improvements in roadway safety versus an actual decline in drunk driving.

Negative Indicators for 2015

In addition, while final 2015 tallies won’t be available until next year, NHTSA reports a troubling trend in the preliminary numbers for this year. Estimates for the first six months of 2015 show an 8.1% increase in traffic fatalities over the same timeframe for 2014. This overall increase could mean that drunk driving deaths in 2015 will also rise.

2014 State Rankings 

The 2014 state-level stats show that Texas had the highest number of drunk-driving deaths and tied for the highest percentage of overall roadway deaths linked to alcohol. The following states had the highest and lowest percentages of alcohol-involved traffic deaths last year: