The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released these statistics on drunk driving. Last year, 17,013 people lost their lives on U.S. roads due to alcohol-impaired driving. According to NHTSA, 28 states reduced the number of deaths due to drunk driving over the last year.
This past year was the first year since 1999 that alcohol-related fatalities declined. Of the total 3,823 highway fatalities that occurred on Texas roads last year, 1,709 or nearly 47 percent involved alcohol. Montana had one of the lowest numbers of total fatalities; yet, in terms of percentage related to alcohol, it topped Texas with 49 percent.
Although North Dakota had only 97 total highway fatalities, half of them were alcohol related. Rhode Island had only 84 fatalities, but 55 percent of them were alcohol related. In South Carolina, the percent of highway deaths related to alcohol was 50 percent.
