In
Pennsylvania, drinking and driving remains a top safety
issue. In 2006, alcohol-related crashes 13,616, increased
from 13,179 alcohol-related crashes in 2005. Alcohol-related deaths, 545,
decreased from 580
alcohol-related deaths in 2005.
Of
particular concern is the involvement of drinking drivers
under the age of 21. Twenty-four
(24%) percent of the driver deaths in the 16-20 age group
were drinking drivers, up from 22% in 2005.
Of
equal focus is the 21 to 25 age group, in which over 49%
of the driver deaths were drinking drivers. this is
slightly down from the 51% in 2005. The 26 to 30
age group decreased from 52% in 2005 to 43% in 2006. The
41 to 45 age group had the worst percentage of all groups,
57% up from 41% in 2005 for this age group.
In
2006, alcohol-related deaths were 36% of the total traffic
deaths, the same as in 2005.
Pennsylvania
continues to take an aggressive posture to prevent and
deter drinking and driving (particularly through the
widespread use of sobriety checkpoints and saturation
patrols).
94% of the alcohol-related occupant deaths (drivers and
passengers) were in the vehicle driven by the drinking
driver; 77% were the drinking drivers themselves.
78%
of the drinking drivers in traffic crashes were male.
79%
of the alcohol-related crashes were during the hours of
darkness, usually on weekends.
On
average each day, 37 alcohol-related traffic crashes
occurred.
On
average each day, 1.5 persons were killed in
alcohol-related traffic crashes.
On
average each day, 29 persons were injured in
alcohol-related traffic crashes.
Note: Beginning with 2003
data, alcohol involvement criteria changed to account for
both BAC levels and suspected involvement when BAC is
unknown. The effect can mostly be seen in alcohol related
fatalities for years 2003 and after.
Although
alcohol-related crashes accounted for less than 11% of the
total crashes in 2006, they resulted in 36% of all persons
killed in crashes. Alcohol-related crashes were over 3 times more
likely to result in death than those not related to alcohol
(3.7% of the alcohol-related crashes resulted in death,
compared to 1.1% of crashes which were not
alcohol-related). "PDO Crashes" in the table below
refers to property damage only crashes.
Fatal Crashes
Deaths
Injury Crashes
Injuries
PDO Crashes
Alcohol-Related
510
(36.2%)
545
(35.7%)
7,580
(11.1%)
10,529
(10.8%)
5,526
(9.4%)
Non-Alcohol-Related
899
(63.8%)
980
(64.3%)
60,747
(88.9%)
87,439
(89.3%)
53,076
(90.6%)
TOTAL
1,409
(100.0%)
1,525
(100.0%)
68,327
(100.0%)
97,968
(100.0%)
58,602
(100.0%)
Five-Year Trends
Alcohol-related
crashes increased in 2006, while alcohol-related deaths were
the second lowest in the last five years. "PDO Crashes" in the table below refers to
property damage only crashes.
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Crashes
15,601
13,689
13,624
13,179
13,616
Fatal Crashes
548
511
487
537
510
Injury Crashes
9,137
7,746
7,641
7,390
7,580
PDO Crashes
5,916
5,432
5,496
5,252
5,526
Deaths
602
558
542
580
545
Injuries
13,266
11,274
10,822
10,423
10,529
Fatal Crashes per 100,000
Licensed Drivers
6.4
6.0
5.8
6.3
6.0
Deaths per 100,000 Licensed
Drivers
7.1
6.6
6.4
6.8
6.4
There were 481 driver and passenger deaths in alcohol-related
crashes in 2006, while 450 (94%) were the drinking drivers
or their passengers.
Persons Involved
Deaths
Drivers
395
Drinking Drivers
371
(93.9%)
Non-Drinking Drivers
24
(6.1%)
Passengers
86
Passengers with Drinking Driver
79
(91.9%)
Passengers with Non-Drinking Drivers
7
(8.1%)
Pedestrians
59
Drinking Pedestrians
45
(76.3%)
Non-Drinking Pedestrians
14
(23.7%)
TOTAL DEATHS*
545
*Includes
5
victims, status unknown
Alcohol-related
crashes occurring between 8:00 PM and 4:00 AM produced the
vast majority of deaths (66% of alcohol-related deaths). In
contrast, nearly half of the deaths from non-alcohol-related crashes
resulted from crashes occurring between noon and 8:00 PM.
Time of
Occurrence
Non-
Alcohol-
Related
Alcohol-
Related
Midnight - 3:59 AM
4:00 - 7:59 AM
59
126
212
36
8:00 - 11:59 AM
Noon - 3:59 PM
167
250
10
38
4:00 - 7:59 PM
8:00 - 11:59 PM
237
138
92
150
Time Unknown
3
7
TOTAL DEATHS
980
545
Almost two-thirds (64%) of alcohol-related fatal crash victims were the result of crashes occurring on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, while fatal crash victims of non-alcohol-related crashes tended to be distributed fairly evenly through the week.
Day of
Occurrence
Non-
Alcohol-
Related
Alcohol-
Related
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
141
151
120
150
53
43
43
59
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
158
142
118
101
137
109
TOTAL
DEATHS
980
545
79% of alcohol-related crashes occur at night. The graph
below shows the breakdown of alcohol-related crashes by day
and night.
In
2006, 15% of all holiday crashes involved alcohol use; however,
47% of deaths which occurred during holiday weekends were related to alcohol use.
Period
Crashes
Deaths
New Years
102
3
Post-New Years
138
7
Pre-Memorial Day
158
4
Memorial Day
167
7
Post-Memorial Day
167
6
Pre-Independence Day*
34
1
Independence Day*
61
1
Post-Independence Day*
25
1
Pre-Labor Day
151
6
Labor Day
190
7
Post-Labor Day
152
5
Pre-Thanksgiving
191
6
Thanksgiving
254
10
Post-Thanksgiving
207
11
Pre-Christmas
183
11
Christmas
216
10
TOTAL
2,396
96
*Not part of a holiday weekend in 2006
Motorcyclists
had the largest percentage of drinking drivers to total
drivers compared to the drivers of other types of vehicles.
Drinking drivers of light trucks, vans and sport utility
vehicles were also above the average for drivers of all
vehicle types. Bus and heavy truck drivers accounted for
very few of the drinking drivers.
Total
Drivers in Crashes
Passenger Car
134,811
224,197
Light Trucks
60,857
Heavy Trucks
7,092
Motorcycle
3,983
Bus
1,156
Other
1,511
Drinking Drivers in Crashes
Passenger Car
8,477
(6.3% of total)
13,435
(6.0% of total)
Light Truck
4,382
(7.2% of total)
Heavy Truck
81
(1.1% of total)
Motorcycle
422
(10.6% of total)
Bus
2
(0.2% of total)
Other
79
(5.2% of total)
In
2006, roughly four out of five drinking drivers in crashes
were male (across most age groups), with only slight
variations among the age groups. The table below does not
include an additional 133 drivers for whom age and/or sex
were not known.
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
Under 16
9
2
11
16 - 20
1,217
305
1,522
21 - 25
2,619
759
3,378
26 - 30
1,505
385
1,890
31 - 35
1,037
284
1,321
36 - 40
1,010
320
1,330
41 - 45
1,028
378
1,406
46 - 50
814
256
1,070
51 - 55
528
124
652
56 - 60
320
60
380
61 - 65
127
25
152
66 - 70
82
14
96
71 - 75
48
9
57
Over 75
39
6
45
Total
10,383
2,927
13,310
In
2006, as the table below shows, the two age groups
from 21 to 30 had the highest percentage of drinking drivers
within their respective age groups. After age 45, the
percentage of drinking drivers within the succeeding age
groups steadily declined. The under 16 age group is of
particular concern, as it included 11
drinking drivers.
Age Group
Drinking Driver
Non-Drinking Driver
Under 16
11
(3.7%)
289 (96.38%)
16 - 20
1,524 (4.5%)
32,347 (95.5%)
21 - 25
3,383 (11.4%)
26,386
(88.6%)
26 - 30
1,891 (9.4%)
18,277 (90.6%)
31 - 35
1,322 (7.6%)
16,031 (92.4%)
36 - 40
1,333 (7.3%)
16,846 (92.7%)
41 - 45
1,406 (7.6%)
17,131 (92.4%)
46 - 50
1,071 (6.3%)
15,941 (93.7%)
51 - 55
653 (4.3%)
13,255 (95.3%)
56 - 60
380 (3.4%)
10,752 (96.6%)
Over 60
350 (1.5%)
23,402 (98.5%)
The
graph below shows drinking driver deaths as a percentage
of total driver deaths within each respective age group
for 2006 crashes. The six age groups from 16 to 50 had
the highest percentages, with over 35% of the driver
deaths in these age groups involving a drinking driver.The 41-45 age group decreased around 6% from 2003
(51.2%), while the 26-30 age group increased by 4.5%.
Act 31, commonly known as
the "Underage Drinking Law," went into effect on May
24, 1988. From that year, and until 1994, the number of
underage drinking drivers involved in Pennsylvania crashes has
declined each year. Following an increase in 1997 until 2002, the
amount
of underage drinking drivers remained consistently high. The
next few years witnessed a steady decrease but there is an
upward trend now developing.