WASHINGTON — Three percent of drivers of large trucks who were involved in a fatal accident in 2010 had any detectable blood alcohol content (BAC), 2 percent of those had a BAC of between .08 and .14. The legal limit in all 50 states and the District of Columbia is .08.
Of those 2 percent above .08 , half had a BAC of .15 or higher.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released 2010 data on alcohol-impaired-driving fatal crashes in conjunction with the announcement of the annual nationwide anti-drunk driving campaign “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”
The nationwide crackdown, held in cooperation with with local law enforcement officers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Center for DWI Courts, comes as new agency statistics show 70 percent of deaths in drunk driving crashes in 2010 involved drivers with blood alcohol levels that were nearly twice the .08 legal limit.
The percentage of large truck drivers who had any BAC was the lowest among all major categories — passenger car, light truck, large truck, motorcycle, bus and other.
Motorcycle riders registered the highest percentage of alcohol-related accidents.
The data show that 8 percent of motorcycle drivers had a BAC of .01-.07, 10 percent between .08 and .14 and 17 percent above .15.
NHTSA said more than 10,000 police departments and law enforcement agencies across the country will support the campaign beginning August 17 and continuing through the Labor Day holiday weekend.
New NHTSA research indicates the 10,228 alcohol-impaired fatalities in 2010 accounted for nearly one out of three highway deaths on U.S. roads – the equivalent of one death every 51 minutes. During the same time period, more than two thirds of drunk driving deaths (7,145 or 70 percent) involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or higher. Overall, the most frequently recorded BAC among drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes was .18 BAC.
Truck accidents in Arizona are unfortunately a common issue. The various reasons for the accidents remains to be different with each wreck. Not only is drinking in driving a stupid thing to do as it is, but if you are driving a large truck and drinking and driving, the chances for disaster are even more greater than before.
The most surprising statistic from this article was the alcohol related accidents involving motorcycle riders. Riding a Motorcycle is already somewhat diffcult to handle. With the addition of alcohol in someone's system will only make handling the motorcycle that much more harder, which will only be a horrible situation if involved in an accident. Motorcycle accidents in phoenix are also very common, but if you were to add alcohol to someone who is responsible for maintaining balance while on two wheels, the results will never be good.
Drive smart Arizona, let's stop drinking and driving nationwide!
