The average drunk driver is:

• Male (82 percent of those arrested are men)
• Age 21 to 34 (61 percent of those arrested are under age 35)
• Arrested between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on a weekend
• Caught driving with a BAC level of .16 percent

More drunk driving facts:

• About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives (NHTSA, 2001).
• An average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 53 minutes in 2011 (NHTSA, 2012).
• An estimated 248,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present in 2004 – an average of one person injured approximately every two minutes (NHTSA, 2005).
• In 2011, 15 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-impared, compared to 31 percent on weekends (NHTSA, 2012).
• Drivers with a BAC of .08 or higher involved in fatal crashes are seven times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired (DWI) than were drivers with no alcohol (NHTSA, 2012).
• The most frequently recorded BAC level among drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes is .16 – twice the legal limit (NHTSA, 2012).
• The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2011 was 4.5 times higher at night than during the day – 36 percent vs. 8 percent (NHTSA, 2012).

For additional information on impaired driving, please read the NHTSA reports located here.