Mapping the Drunk Driving Epidemic

It’s illegal to drive if your blood alcohol content is over .08%. Even so, every year Americans have too much to drink and choose to get behind the wheel anyway causing traffic accidents across the country that can cause injury and even death. Drunk driving is clearly an epidemic. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers and 1 in 4 of those crashes involve an underage drunk driver. The facts are clear. Drunk driving is rampant and can claim lives or grievously someone no matter their age.

The team at van der Veen, Hartshorn, Levin & Lindheim created a map that highlights the severity of the drunk driving problem and examines a specific aspect: location. They used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to calculate which cities had the highest numbers of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 people. They created a map that shows areas where drunk driving occurs the most and may even help us reach new conclusions about why some places are more at risk of drunk driving and others. Is your city highlighted?

Click below to zoom

The map is the best way to look at these trends, but here’s a quick list of their top ten results:

1. Odessa, TX: 27.46
2. San Bernardino, CA: 18.15
3. Pueblo, CO: 17.94
4. Corona, CA: 15.04
5. Hartford, CT: 14.91
6. Midland, TX: 14.13
7. Dallas, TX: 13.93
8. Chattanooga, TN: 13.58
9. Detroit, MI: 13.22
10. Charleston, SC: 13.01