Update: Repeat DWI Offenders Involvement in Fatal Crashes in 2010

Abstract

Objective: This analysis is an update of a Traffic Tech published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in March 1992. Drivers with prior driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) convictions are overrepresented in fatal crashes and the relative risk of fatal crash involvement is greater for these repeat DWI offenders. Methods: Although it is estimated that 2.1 percent of licensed drivers had a prior arrest for DWI within the past 3 years in 2010, 8.0 percent of intoxicated drivers (blood alcohol concentration [BAC] ≥ 0.08 g/dL) involved in fatal crashes had at least one prior DWI conviction in the past 3 years during that same year. Results: Drivers with prior DWI convictions are overrepresented in fatal crashes by a factor of 1.62 or are 62 percent more likely to be in a fatal crash. Similarly, drivers with prior DWI convictions are also overrepresented as drinking drivers in fatal crashes: those with low BACs (0.01–0.07) by a factor of 2.38 and those with high BACs (0.08+) by a factor of 3.81. Conclusion: Though repeat DWI offenders are at a substantially higher risk of fatal crash involvement, the vast majority of intoxicated drivers in fatal crashes do not have a DWI conviction in the past 3 years (11 out of 12) according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System records for the year 2010.