The FBI estimates that 1,024,508 people in the United States were arrested in 2019 for driving a motor vehicle under the influence (DUI), which in most states requires having a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher. Of those arrests, 17,735 occurred in Arizona. Drunk driving is a crime that Arizona takes very seriously, and there have been statewide efforts to crack down on DUI led by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Have these efforts been successful? Here are some of the most compelling findings from 2019 Arizona DUI statistics.

Finding #1 — DUI Arrests Generally Decreased in 2019 Over the Holidays

The Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety (AGOHS) periodically releases statewide DUI enforcement statistics. The holiday season DUI statistics from December 2019 showed that there were 2,161 aggravated and misdemeanor DUI arrests, compared to 2,739 in December 2018. Arrests for Extreme DUI arrests, where the driver has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 percent or greater, fell to 414 from 537 in the previous year. Similarly, AGOHS statistics for labor day showed a decrease in total DUI arrests.

Finding #2 — Men Were Arrested For DUIs Nearly Three Times More Often Than Women

In 2019, 17,735 adults were arrested in Arizona for DUI offenses, including DUI drug arrests. Of that number, 13,094, or nearly 74 percent of the total number of arrests, were men. Similarly, of the 4,907 alcohol related crashes that occurred in Arizona in 2019, 3,429 (72.34 percent) involved male drivers and 1,290 (27.22 percent) involved female drivers. However, these statistics are consistent with the overall distribution of arrests in the state. Of all the arrests made in Arizona in 2019, males accounted for 72.1 percent and females accounted for 27.9 percent.

Finding #3 — Of All Age Groups, DUI Arrests Peaked at 25-29

In 2019, Arizonians aged 25-29 were arrested more often than any other age group for DUI. After peaking with 25-to-29-year-olds, arrest numbers decreased with age. The following chart shows the number of arrests and the percentage of arrests for adults aged 25 through 54 in Arizona.

Finding #4 — In 2019, Alcohol Related Crashes Killed 256, Injured 2,969, and Caused Over $3 Billion of Economic Loss

There were 4,907 alcohol related crashes in 2019, which comprised 3.78 percent of all traffic accidents in the state. Of those accidents, 234 involved fatalities (4.77 percent), 1,969 involved injuries (40.13 percent), and 2,704 caused property damage only (55.10 percent). The 234 fatal crashes killed 256 people, and the 1,969 injury accidents injured 2,969 people.

Alcohol related crashes also caused an estimated $3,055,518,938 in economic loss. The following table breaks down the distribution of these losses.

Finding #5 — Over Half of Fatal Drunk Driving Accidents Were Single-Vehicle Crashes

In 2019, 41.03 percent of fatal alcohol related crashes were single-vehicle accidents. Of the 138 fatal multi-party crashes, 75 (54.35 percent) involved bicycles or pedestrians. This is particularly telling, since accidents involving bicycles or pedestrians consisted of less than 10 percent of all alcohol related accidents in Arizona.

Finding #6 — Over Half of All Alcohol Related Crashes and Fatal Alcohol Related Crashes Occurred on the Weekend

In 2019, crashes that occurred on the weekends accounted for 52.99 percent of all alcohol related crashes and 57.26 percent of all alcohol related fatal crashes in Arizona.

Finding #7 — Approximately 65 Percent of Statewide DUI Arrests and Alcohol Related Crashes Occurred in Maricopa County

11,493 people were arrested on DUI charges in Maricopa County in 2019. These arrests constituted 64.80% of arrests in all of Arizona. Similarly, 3,224 or 65.70 percent of alcohol related crashes occurred Maricopa County. This distribution is slightly higher than the population distribution, as just over 60 percent of Arizonians lived in Maricopa County in 2019.

Finding #8 — Nearly 1/3 of All Drunk Driving Accidents Were Caused By Drivers in the 25-34 Age Range

1,471, or 31.03 percent, of all Arizona alcohol related crashes in 2019 involved drivers in the 25-34 age range. As with arrests, the number of alcohol related crashes decreased with age.

What Do These Statistics Mean for Arizona?

While some of the statistics show that there has been an improvement in Arizona's drunk driving numbers, there still is plenty of room for growth. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that states take the following strategies to help reduce or prevent drunk driving:

• Enact state drunk driving laws that make it illegal to drive with blood alcohol content at or above 0.08 percent, and "zero tolerance” laws that make it illegal for people under 21 to drive with any amount of alcohol in their system.
• Institute sobriety checkpoints to allow police officers to briefly stop all or some vehicles at specific, highly-visible locations to check if the driver is impaired.
• Require people all convicted of DUI, including first-time offenders, to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles to measure alcohol on the driver’s breath. The ignition interlock device prevents the car from starting if the driver has a BAC above a certain level, typically 0.02%.
• Create multi-component interventions that combine several programs or policies to prevent drunk driving. These intervention efforts are most successful when supported by community mobilization, such as the involvement of coalitions or task forces in designing and implementing the programs.
• Employ mass media campaigns to share information about the physical dangers and legal consequences of drunk driving. These campaigns should persuade people not to drink and drive and urge them to encourage other drivers to do the same. The CDC suggests that mass media campaigns are most effective when they support other impaired driving prevention strategies and are not the only strategy.
• Enact administrative license revocation or suspension laws that allow police or a government agency to take away the driver's license of a driver who tests at or above the legal BAC limit or who refuses to submit to testing. The CDC recommends that a minimum suspension of 90 days be implemented in order for administrative license revocation or suspension laws to be effective.

The CDC had several other recommendations for how states could help decrease DUI incidents, accidents, and arrests. If Arizona implements or continues to implement these strategies, hopefully the statistics in 2020 will show a decrease in DUI arrests, alcohol related crashes, injuries, property damage, and, most importantly, deaths.