Risk Factors for Impaired Driving

Key points

  • Some groups are more at risk for driving impaired than other groups.
  • Among drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2020, the percentage of drivers who were impaired by alcohol was highest among drivers 21–24 years old and 25–34 years old.

People at increased risk

Some groups are more at risk for impaired driving and related crashes and deaths.

Teen drivers and passengers

  • Drinking any amount of alcohol before driving increases crash risk among teen drivers.12 Teen drivers have a much higher risk for being involved in a crash than older drivers at the same blood alcohol concentration (BAC), even at BAC levels below the legal limit for adults ages 21 years and older.2
  • Among U.S. high school students who drove in 2019, about 5% drove after drinking alcohol in the prior 30 days.3 Also, among all high school students, about 17% rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol in the prior 30 days.3
  • Among U.S. high school students who drove in 2017, about 13% drove when they had been using marijuana in the prior 30 days.45

Keep reading: Risk Factors for Teen Drivers

Young adult drivers

  • Among drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2020, the percentage of drivers who were impaired by alcohol was highest among drivers 21–24 years old and 25–34 years old (26% each).6
  • Adults ages 21–24 had the highest prevalence of driving after having too much to drink in the past 30 days (3.3%) when compared with all adults in 2018.7

Men

  • Driving while impaired is more common among men. 22% of male drivers involved in fatal crashes were impaired by alcohol at the time of the crash compared with 16% for female drivers in 2020.6
  • Self-reported driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or illicit drugs is higher among men than women.378

American Indian and Alaska Native People

  • Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people have the highest alcohol-impaired driving death rates among all racial and ethnic groups.9
  • Alcohol-impaired driving death rates among non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people are 2 to 11 times higher than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States.9

Motorcycle drivers

  • A higher proportion of motorcyclists drive while impaired compared with drivers of other types of vehicles. For example, 27% of motorcycle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2020 were impaired by alcohol, compared with 23% of passenger car drivers.6

Drivers who don't always wear a seat belt

  • Not always wearing a seat belt is more common among people who drive after drinking alcohol.37
  • A higher percentage of alcohol-impaired drivers killed (66%)A were not wearing a seat belt compared with drivers with no alcohol in their system (44%), among all drivers killed in crashes in 2020.6

Drivers with prior DWI (driving while impaired) convictions

  • The percentage of drivers with prior DWI convictions was four times higher among alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes than among drivers with no alcohol in their system in 2020.1
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Content Source:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
  1. These percentages are based on passenger vehicle occupants for which seat belt use/nonuse was known.
  1. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute. Fatality Facts 2020: Teenagers. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute; May 2022.
  2. Voas RB, Torres P, Romano E, Lacey JH. Alcohol-related risk of driver fatalities: an update using 2007 data. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2012;73(3):341–350. doi:10.15288/jsad.2012.73.341
  3. Yellman MA, Bryan L, Sauber-Schatz EK, Brener N. Transportation Risk Behaviors Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2019. MMWR Suppl. 2020;69(Suppl-1):77–83. doi:10.15585/mmwr.su6901a9
  4. Kann L, McManus T, Harris WA, Shanklin SL, Flint KH, Queen B, Lowry R, Chyen D, Whittle L, Thornton J, Lim C, Bradford D, Yamakawa Y, Leon M, Brener N, Ethier KA. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2017. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2018;67(8):1–114. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6708a1
  5. Li L, Hu G, Schwebel DC, Zhu M. Analysis of US Teen Driving After Using Marijuana, 2017. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(12):e2030473. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.30473
  6. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2020 Data: Alcohol-Impaired Driving (Report No DOT HS 813 294). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis; April 2022.
  7. Barry V, Schumacher A, Sauber-Schatz E. Alcohol-impaired driving among adults—USA, 2014–2018. Inj Prev. 2022;28(3):211–217. doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044382
  8. Azofeifa A, Rexach-Guzmán BD, Hagemeyer AN, Rudd RA, Sauber-Schatz EK. Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana and Illicit Drugs Among Persons Aged ≥16 Years — United States, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019;68(50):1153–1157.
  9. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Unpublished 2015–2019 data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis; August 2022.