While many work individually to prevent drunk driving, others are quick to blame different generations:

37.8% of respondents believe that millennials (Generation Y) as the generation most likely to drink and drive.

29.4% of respondents believe that Generation Z (16-24-year-olds) is the generation most likely to drive drunk.

18.9% identified Generation X (40-54-year-olds) were the most likely to drive while drunk.

13.9% saw the Baby Boomer generation (55-75-year-olds) as the ones with the highest risk of drinking and driving. 

Based on survey of 1,500 people The Zebra 

Key insights + statistics

Ride-sharing has decreased alcohol-related US traffic fatalities by 6.1% and reduced overall US traffic deaths by 4%. (National Bureau of Economic Research)

As of 2023, every day, 37 people in the United States die in car crashes with an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 39 minutes. (CDC)

More than a quarter (31%) of all traffic-related deaths are the direct result of alcohol impairment. (NHTSA)

There were 13,384 deaths from drunk driving crashes in 2021. (NHTSA)
Over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, there were on average 11,000 deaths a year due to drunk driving. 

1 in 4 crashes with teens involve an underage drunk driver (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

Drivers with a Blood Alcohol Content of over 0.10 are 7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than sober drivers. (Responsibility.org)

Over 10,000 Americans a year are killed by drunk drivers, about 1,000 of them being children. (CDC)

State                             Fatalities
Texas                              13,138
California                       10,327
Florida                             8,476
Pennsylvania                   4,663
North Carolina                4,102
South Carolina                3,870
Illinois                             3,866
New York                        3,572
Georgia                           3,699
Ohio                                3,637
Tennessee                       3,423
Missouri                          3,314
Alabama                          3,190
Louisiana                         3,046

Drunk driving by age
Please refer to the NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts and the Department of Transportation for additional data concerning the data below:

Vehicular collisions are the leading cause of death for minors.

In 2013, 42% of drivers in drunk driving deaths were aged 16 to 24.

In 2013, almost 120,000 emergency rooms treated young people with injuries related to alcohol and driving.

Four years later, in 2017, 16 to 24-year-olds comprised 42% of the drivers killed in alcohol-related crashes.

During 2017, the highest percentage of drunk drivers were 21- to 24-year-olds, at 27%, followed by 25- to 34-year-olds.