While many factors play into when a drunk driving accident will happen, it is possible to look at the overall statistics and average them out to see how often these crashes take place. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compiled this data. What they found is that, across the United States, there is a fatal DUI crash every 51 minutes. On average, this means that about 30 people are killed each day in these accidents.
One very interesting thing to note is that this statistic is not even taking into account all of the accidents in which no one is killed. Surely, some of the injury statistics also come from fatal crashes, but there are also many accidents that require hospitalization and medical care but where everyone survives. If these were added in, the rate of injury would be even higher.
It has also been found that alcohol plays a big role in overall deaths. When looking at the stats for 2012, it was found that there were 10,322 fatalities in DUI accidents. This meant that a full 31 percent of all people who died in car crashes were killed in these alcohol-related accidents.
A total of 1,168 of those who died in car crashes were children who were 14 and under. Around 20 percent – 239 total individuals — were killed in alcohol-related crashes.
As you can see, in Connecticut and elsewhere, DUI accidents are actually quite common, perhaps more so than you expected. If you have been hurt in such a crash, or if you have lost a loved one, make sure that you know what right you may have to seek compensation.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts” Dec. 18, 2014