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  Connecticut Impaired Driving Fact Sheet 

December, 2006

Alcohol Related Fatalities Nationwide

• Alcohol related fatalities in the nation declined .2 per cent from 16,919 in 2004 to 16,885 in 2005. Fatalities where the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .08 or higher decreased .4 per cent from 14, 593 to 14,539. Fatalities involving BACs almost twice the legal limit in all States (.15 or higher) increased .2 per cent from 10,060 to 10,081

Alcohol Related Fatalities In Connecticut

• The number of alcohol related fatalities in Connecticut declined 8.4 per cent from 2004 to 2005 (131 to 120). Since 2001, alcohol related fatalities in the State have declined 25 per cent (161 to 120).
• A total of 693 families (about three families per week) lost a loved one in an impaired driving crash in Connecticut between 2001 and 2005.
• The number of alcohol related fatalities in 2005 where the BAC level was at the legal limit of .08 or higher declined from 119 to 101 (a 15 per cent reduction). An estimated 84 per cent of all alcohol related fatalities in Connecticut in 2005 involved a legally intoxicated driver or pedestrian.
• The number of fatalities in 2005 where the BAC level was almost twice the legal limit (.15 or higher) also declined from 76 to 69 (a 9 per cent reduction). Almost 60 per cent of the alcohol related fatalities in Connecticut in 2005 involved an legally intoxicated driver or pedestrian with a BAC level of .15 or higher (almost twice the legal limit)
• While high BAC levels in fatal crashes in Connecticut did decline in 2005, fatalities involving a moderately but not legally impaired driver or pedestrian increased from 12 to 19.
• Forty four per cent of all fatalities in Connecticut in 2005 were alcohol related. The per cent of alcohol related fatalities in the State was unchanged between 2004 and 2005.  Despite reductions in the numbers of alcohol related fatalities, the percentage of alcohol related fatalities remains high. Connecticut had the 11th highest percentage of alcohol related fatalities in the nation and second highest in New England in 2005. Alcohol related fatalities nationwide accounted for 39 per cent of all fatalities.                                             

Alcohol Fatality Rates In Connecticut

• The Connecticut alcohol fatality rate in 2004 was .41 deaths per 100 million VMT. This represents a 27 per cent decline from the 2001 alcohol fatality rate of .52 deaths per 100 million VMT.  The Connecticut 2004 alcohol fatality rate is the 7th lowest in the nation and remains well below the national alcohol fatality rate of .57 deaths per 100 million VMT. The counties with the highest alcohol fatally rates per 100,000 population in 2005 were Windham, Litchfield, and New London.

  Drinking Drivers and Alcohol Related Fatal Crashes In Connecticut

• Of the 385 drivers involved in fatal crashes in Connecticut in 2005, 106 (27 per cent) had alcohol in their blood. Thirty five States had lower percentages of drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes. The nationwide average was 24 per cent.  Eighty eight of the one hundred six drinking drivers (83 per cent) had blood alcohol levels at the legal limit of .08 BAC or higher.
• Of the 176 drivers killed in fatal crashes in Connecticut in 2005, 66 (37 per cent) had alcohol in their blood.  Fifty seven of the sixty six drivers killed with alcohol in their blood (86 per cent) had alcohol blood levels at the legal limit of .08 BAC or higher..

SOURCE: National Highway Traffic Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and NHTSA studies