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I'm finding it very difficult to dig up actual statistics on what percentage of accidents each year are caused by drunk drivers, most likely because I suspect t

I'm finding it very difficult to dig up actual statistics on what percentage of accidents each year are caused by drunk drivers, most likely because I suspect the percentage is extremely low. The nearest I could find was a statistic that about 7% of all vehicle accidents involved an alcohol impaired operator (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403100014.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403100014.html). That said, why do you think impaired drivers are the biggest danger on the road? I firmly believe it is simply bad, irresponsible, untrained drivers caused by 1) the ease of obtaining a driver's license, 2) the lack of expense overall in owning and driving a car and 3) the very low standard of acceptable driving that's the most troublesome. It's going to be easy to throw a drunk in an autonomous vehicle and ship them home. It's going to be exponentially more difficult to provide access to autonomous vehicles to the general population.

nabla9 11y ago
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812102.pdf http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812102.pdf In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired- driving crashes, an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 52 minutes. These alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States.
- dclowd9901 11y ago
  This is a percentage of fatal accidents, which on the whole are very statistically unlikely (they account for less than 1% of all accidents). Just because someone didn't die doesn't mean an accident was inconsequential. In other words, if I told you 1/3 of fatal airline crashes were caused by drunken pilots but half of all airline crashes were caused by fatigued pilots, which would you try to fix first?
sandworm101 11y ago
From the CDC "In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States." "Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are often used in combination with alcohol." http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impai... So with 31+% of deaths related to alcohol, I'd put that as the greatest threat. The problem with all accident stats is that one accident creates many stats. Say a drunk hits a tree. One person says it was "speed related", another blames a distraction, another the lack of devices to prevent the car leaving the road, another the driver not using a seat belt or airbag ... and we all know it begins with the drunk. I eagerly wait for Google to allow drunks to use these cars. That "the car gets you home" scenario is what supporters champion when they talk of reducing accidents. But I doubt Google's lawyers will ever remove "do not drink and drive" from the car's manual.
- dclowd9901 11y ago
  That's 31% of FATAL accidents, but a much smaller percentage of accidents on the whole. There's very few actual statistics around how much drunken driving causes accidents period. Not saying it's a problem, but the more pressing problem in my mind is a very bad driving standard (which would likely weed out bad actors like drivers who would drink)
Cyph0n 11y ago
We have a drink driver here, folks. The right question to ask is why wouldn't you think that drink driving causes the most damage on the road?
Cyph0n 11y ago
We have a drink driver here, folks. The right question to ask is why wouldn't you think that drunk driving causes the most damage on the road?
- dclowd9901 11y ago
  Just because I'm asking a different question doesn't mean I engage in the activity. That's a fallacy. The statistics pretty plainly show it's a smaller contributor to accidents in general which is odd considering how remarkably accident numbers keep dropping year over year.

nabla9 11y ago

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812102.pdf http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812102.pdf In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired- driving crashes, an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 52 minutes. These alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States.

dclowd9901 11y ago
This is a percentage of fatal accidents, which on the whole are very statistically unlikely (they account for less than 1% of all accidents). Just because someone didn't die doesn't mean an accident was inconsequential. In other words, if I told you 1/3 of fatal airline crashes were caused by drunken pilots but half of all airline crashes were caused by fatigued pilots, which would you try to fix first?

sandworm101 11y ago

From the CDC "In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States." "Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are often used in combination with alcohol." http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impai... So with 31+% of deaths related to alcohol, I'd put that as the greatest threat. The problem with all accident stats is that one accident creates many stats. Say a drunk hits a tree. One person says it was "speed related", another blames a distraction, another the lack of devices to prevent the car leaving the road, another the driver not using a seat belt or airbag ... and we all know it begins with the drunk. I eagerly wait for Google to allow drunks to use these cars. That "the car gets you home" scenario is what supporters champion when they talk of reducing accidents. But I doubt Google's lawyers will ever remove "do not drink and drive" from the car's manual.

dclowd9901 11y ago
That's 31% of FATAL accidents, but a much smaller percentage of accidents on the whole. There's very few actual statistics around how much drunken driving causes accidents period. Not saying it's a problem, but the more pressing problem in my mind is a very bad driving standard (which would likely weed out bad actors like drivers who would drink)

Cyph0n 11y ago

We have a drink driver here, folks. The right question to ask is why wouldn't you think that drink driving causes the most damage on the road?

Cyph0n 11y ago

We have a drink driver here, folks. The right question to ask is why wouldn't you think that drunk driving causes the most damage on the road?

dclowd9901 11y ago
Just because I'm asking a different question doesn't mean I engage in the activity. That's a fallacy. The statistics pretty plainly show it's a smaller contributor to accidents in general which is odd considering how remarkably accident numbers keep dropping year over year.