Drunk Driving Statistics and Facts in New York

New York had drunk driving laws in the books since 1910, and a hundred years later it still struggles against vehicle-related injuries and fatalities. It has one of the lowest arrest rates in proportion to its population (0.19%) but proves the trend that alcohol is responsible for 1/3rd of all car crashes (in 2012 there were 1,200 fatal car crashes and 428 were alcohol-related).

New York’s rules are tough, but both law enforcement and a New York DWI Lawyer work to keep the roads safe and to keep drivers from turning into repeat offenders.

Here are some of the most recent drunk driving statistics and arrest data provided by the New York DMV:

Alcohol-Impaired Driving Facts

  • In 2013, out of 8,368 reported alcohol-related crashes, 358 were fatal. Total fatal car crashes however, were only 1,082. Hence, this means that alcohol was responsible for 35% of all car deaths.
  • Of the 8,368 total crashes, there were 4,248 that ended with non-fatal personal injuries.
  • Car crashes that cause property damage in excess of $1000 were 3,762.
  • There were 13,185 vehicles involved in these crashes, and 16,272 occupants.
  • There were 11,251 drivers and of these 7892 were drinking.
  • Fatalities breakdown:
    • Persons Killed (including pedestrians): 387
    • Drivers Killed: 214
    • Drinking Drivers: 201
    • Non-Drinking Drivers: 13
    • Passengers Killed: 62
    • Pedestrians Killed: 98
    • Bicyclists Killed: 13
    • Percentage of fatalities to number of crashes: 4.3%
  • Non-Fatal Injuries breakdown:
    • Total Persons Injured: 6,019
    • Drivers Injured: 3,754
    • Passengers Injured: 1,729
    • Pedestrians Injured: 400
    • Bicyclists Injured: 110
  • Severity of Personal Injuries breakdown:
    • Serious Injuries: 943
      • Percentage to total: 11.3%
    • Moderate Injuries: 1,125
      • Percentage to total: 13.4%
    • Minor Injuries 2,008
      • Percentage to total: 24.0 %
    • Unknown Severity: 172
      • Percentage to total: 2.1%
    • Others: 26
  • The great majority of crashes happen around weekends. Of the 8,368 crashes:
    • 1262 happened on Friday
    • 1939 happened on Saturday
    • 1877 happened on Sunday
  • There were 564 Underage Drinking Drivers. Of these, 23 died and 261 suffered some form of Personal Injury.
  • Which means the in 2013, Underage Drinking Drivers had a 50% rate for suffering death and injury.
  • Out of the total 7892 reported Drinking Drivers in 2013:
    • 5892 were male.
    • 1970 were female.

Charged with a DWI in New York? Contact our DWI team right now for a FREE DWI case evaluation: 1-866-792-7800.