Alcohol concentration
Even at an Alcohol Content (AC) level as low as 0.04%, alcohol in your blood system affects driving ability and crash likelihood, according to Special Report 216, "Zero Alcohol" by the Transportation Research Board.
- The probability of a crash begins to increase significantly at 0.05 AC and climbs rapidly after about 0.08%.
- For drivers with AC's above 0.15% on weekend nights, the likelihood of being killed in a single-vehicle crash is approximately three times higher than it is for non-drinking drivers.
Gender
Alcohol-related crashes in Wisconsin are much more likely to involve men than women.
- Among fatally injured male drivers in the year 2015, 31% of those tested had AC's of 0.08% or more and women tested for .08 or above were 15%. These numbers are taken from all of the fatalities that were tested.
- Men, ages 21-24, are the most likely drivers to be killed in a crash when their blood alcohol content is above 0.08.
Age
Male drivers ages 21-40 make up the majority of fatally injured drivers with high AC's. This group has shown only a modest decline in the 1980s in the percentage of fatally injured drivers with high ACs.
In contrast, other age groups, particularly teenagers, show substantial declines. Drivers in the 16-20 year-old group showed the biggest improvement throughout the 1980s, due largely to the 21-year-old alcohol purchase laws.
|
Age |
Total number
in crashes |
Percent
total |
Number who had been
drinking in crashes |
Percent
total |
| Unknown | 19,138 | 9.5% | 11 | 0.2% |
| 14 and under | 69 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| 15 to 19 | 19,030 | 9.5% | 242 | 4.7% |
| 20 to 24 | 24,770 | 12.3% | 1,141 | 22.3% |
| 25 to 44 | 66,772 | 33.2% | 2,332 | 45.5% |
| 45 to 64 | 52,528 | 26.2% | 1,223 | 23.9% |
| 65 to 84 | 17,039 | 8.5% | 168 | 3.3% |
| 85 and up | 1,520 | 0.8% | 4 | 0.1% |