Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Illegal Drugs
(reports are listed from most recent to earliest release)

The NSDUH Report:   Underage Alcohol Use: Where Do Young People Drink?   SAMHSA's 2006 National Survey on Drug Use & Health indicated that more than a fourth of the persons under the legal age for drinking actually drank in the past month; that is, there were 10.8 million current underage drinkers.   Over a half (53.4%) of the current underage alcohol users drank at someone else's home the last time they used alcohol and another 30.3% drank in their own home.   Younger female underage drinkers were more likely than older ones to have had their most recent drink in a car or other vehicle. For example, female underage drinkers aged 16 were eight times more likely to have had their last drank in a car than those aged 20 (12.8% vs. 1.6%).   Among current underage drinkers aged 20, females were almost twice as likely as males to have had their most recent drink in a restaurant, bar, or club (20.0% vs. 10.2%).

The NSDUH Report:  State Estimates of Persons Aged 18 or Older Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Illicit Drugs   Based on the combined 2004 to 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health data from current drivers aged 18 or older, 15.1% had driven under the influence of alcohol during the past year and 4.7% had driven under the influence of illicit drugs.   States with the highest rates of driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year among adults aged 18 or older were Wisconsin (26.4%), North Dakota (24.9%), Minnesota (23.5%), Nebraska (22.9%), and South Dakota (21.6%).   The highest rates of driving under the influence of illicit drugs in the past year among adults aged 18 or older were in the District of Columbia (7.0%), Rhode Island (6.8%), Massachusetts (6.4%), Montana (6.3%), and Wyoming (6.2%).  For more detailed tables on drivers who drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs, see detailed tables from 2006 NSDUH.

The DASIS Report:  Facilities with DUI/DWI Programs, 2004   Of the substance abuse treatment facilities reporting to SAMHSA's National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) in 2004, 31% offered a special program for driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated (DWI), or other drunk driving offenders. Among the substance abuse treatment facilities that offered DUI/DWI programs, most were privately operated (90% for DUI/DWI-only facilities and 86% for multi-programs facilities). Multi-program facilities were more likely than DUI/DWI-only facilities to offer urine screening (82% vs. 57%) and blood alcohol testing (65% vs. 52%).

The NSDUH Report: Alcohol Use and Alcohol Related Risk Behaviors among Veterans   Data from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used to compare substance use, dependence and treatment among veterans and non veterans. In 2003, an estimated 56.6% of veterans used alcohol in the past month compared with 50.8% of comparable nonveterans. An estimated 13.2% of veterans reported driving while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year compared with 12.2% of comparable nonveterans. An estimated 18.8% of veterans reported that they smoked cigarettes daily in the past month compared with 14.3% of comparable nonveterans.

The NSDUH Report:  Arrests for Driving Under the Influence among Adult Drivers   By combining data from SAMHSA's National Surveys on Drug Use and Health in 2002 and 2003, SAMHSA estimated the annual average rates of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or illicit drugs and of DUI arrests among adults aged 21 or older. An estimated 30.7 million persons aged 21 or older (16.6% of adult drivers) reported driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs during the past year; of these, 1.2 million (0.6% of adult drivers) were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs during the past year.  Among drivers aged 21 and older, 5.9% of those reporting that they had driven under the influence of both alcohol and illicit drugs during the past year had been arrested for DUI in the past year, 4.8% of those driving under the influence of only illicit drugs, and 2.9% of those who had driven under the influence of only alcohol during the past year had been arrested for DUI in the past year.

The NSDUH Report:  Driving Under the Influence among Adult Drivers    Based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2002 and 2003, about 94% of persons aged 21 or older were classified as drivers. Among adult drivers aged 21 or older, 71% reported using alcohol during the 12 months prior to survey, and 12.6% reported having used an illicit drug during the past year. An estimated 30.7 million persons aged 21 or older (16.6% of adult drivers) reported driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs during the past year.  Among drivers aged 21 and older, 15.7% had driven under the influence of alcohol during the past year, 4.3% had driven under the influence of illicit drugs, and 3% had driven under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs during the past year. Drivers aged 21 and older living in the Midwest (20.5%) were more likely to have driven under the influence or alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year than those living in the West (17.1%), Northeast (15.6%) or the South (14.3%).

The NSDUH Report:  Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Among Young Persons   Data from SAMHSA's 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were pooled to examine the prevalence of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or other drugs while driving by young persons aged 16 to 20. An annual average of 4.2 million persons aged 16 to 20 reported driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs during the past year.  About 169,000 of these persons (4%) reported that they had been arrested and booked for DUI/ DWI involving alcohol or drugs in the past year.

The NSDUH Report:  Graduated Driver Licensing and Drinking Among Young Drivers  Based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 21% of young drivers aged 15 to 17 were binge drinkers and 6% were heavy drinkers during the combined years of 1999 to 2001. Rates of heavy drinking and binge drinking among young drivers varied by the States' Graduated Driver Licensing ratings, based on the extent to which they restrict driving behavior among young drivers. This report identifies the States categorized from most restrictive to least restrictive according to the 4 category rating scheme developed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation.

The NSDUH Report:  Drugged Driving:  2002 Update  This report provides the drugged driving rates by gender, race/ethnicity, geographic locations, county type, current employment, and educational level.

Driving Under the Influence (PDF format, Go to tables 7.74 - 7.77):  Detailed tables from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Abuse & Health, formerly called the NHSDA

Driving under the influence (PDF format)

The NHSDA Report:  Drugged Driving

Driving Under the Influence of Illicit Drugs - findings from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)

Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol - findings from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Table F.28 Percentages Reporting Driving Under the Influence of Any Illicit Drug or Alcohol in the Past Year Among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Demographic Characteristics for 1999 and 2000

Driving under the influence by treatment completion status

Driving After Drug or Alcohol Use: Findings from the 1996 NHSDA

Also see Alcohol Problems and Drug Problems

This page was last updated on September 02, 2008.

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