Evaluation of Responsible Beverage Service to Reduce Impaired Driving
Despite progress in reducing impaired driving, drivers 21 to 34 years old remain a particularly high-risk group for involvement in impaired-driving-related crashes. In 2014, 21-to 34-year-olds accounted for 42 percent of the impaired drivers (i.e., those with a blood alcohol concentration [BAC] of .08 grams per deciliter [g/dL] or greater) of all ages in fatal crashes and 30 percent of all drivers (drinking or not drinking) in fatal crashes. The proportion of drivers in fatal crashes in 2014 with BACs of .08 or greater for drivers 21 to 24 was 30 percent, followed by drivers 25 to 34 at 29 percent (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2015). Kennedy, Isaac, and Graham (1996) found that 70 percent of fatally injured male drinking drivers in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) were 21 to 39 years, with 65 percent of them having a BAC of .15 or greater.