Hundreds of people are killed in drunk driving accidents in Louisiana every year. In fact, one-third of all fatal car accidents in this state involve alcohol impairment. While legal impairment is considered to be .08 blood alcohol concentration, any amount of alcohol can impair a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely.

Young drivers are more likely to drive drunk

Research shows that age is a huge factor in a person’s likelihood to drive drunk and get stopped for a DUI. The youngest drivers that can legally drink alcohol are involved in the highest percentage of fatal drunk driving accidents. Twenty-seven percent of all fatal drunk driving accidents involve drivers between the ages of 21 and 24. Coming in second, drivers between the ages of 25 and 34 are involved in 25% of fatal drunk driving accidents.

Drunk driving fatalities are slowly decreasing each year

The good news is that drunk driving fatalities have been decreasing slowly but steadily over the last few years around the country. They went from 10,967 in 2016 to 10,142 in 2019.

Statistics over the last few decades show an even more dramatic decline in drunk driving accidents. According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, drunk driving fatalities have decreased by 50% since 1982.

Awareness and ridesharing has helped

Road safety advocates say that awareness of impaired driving dangers and campaigns by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving have helped to keep our roads safer. In recent years, the popularization of ridesharing apps like Lyft and Uber may have also helped. It’s now much easier and cheaper to get a ride from a sober driver than it used to be, so people may be less likely to take chances when they know that they’re intoxicated.