All states except Delaware, Illinois, and New Hampshire had fewer DUI arrests in 2019 compared to 2010. South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming lead the nation in DUI arrests.Ten percent of all criminal arrests across the country are for driving under the influence, more than all violent crimes combined.New data suggest that the percentage of crashes involving drivers with blood alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit has jumped from 19 percent to 26 percent during COVID.Drunk drivers account for 28 percent of American traffic fatalities, equaling more than 10,000 deaths each year.This is why we gathered data on national and state DUI trends as well as how DUI rates have changed since 2021. There’s no doubt that driving under the influence is more common than it should be, but it’s also the case that certain areas of the country seem to have a bigger issue with intoxicated drivers than others. Additionally, 22.5 percent of drivers aged 21 or older admitted to driving while intoxicated at least once in 2021, with 12 percent reporting they do so often.

Still, drunk driving claims thousands of lives on the road and accounts for more arrests than murder, rape, aggravated assault and burglary combined according to the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data. This is all despite widespread public understanding that driving under the influence is incredibly dangerous - a 2021 study revealed that 78 percent of Americans were very concerned about the danger of drunk driving, and 69 percent were very concerned about the danger of drug-impaired drivers. Additionally, hints of higher impairment rates during COVID-19 have compounded the threats on our roadways. Over 10,000 Americans are killed by drunk drivers annually, with fatalities spiking around holidays. Fatalities caused by driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs have steadily declined in the US for decades, yet the numbers remain unacceptably high.

Drunk drivers killed