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Virginia State Police Statistics Disprove Link Between Drinking and Auto Accidents

Traffic accident statistics compiled by the Virginia State Police (VSP) for calendar year 2007 (the most recent reporting period) dispel popular belief that alcohol is involved in most accidents. 

Of the 145,405 auto crashes in that year, only 7,019 drivers out of  265,589 involved were deemd to have been "impaired." That is 2.9 per cent of the total crashes. The statistics for that year indicate that 97 percent of the drivers involved in crashes were not impaired by alcohol.

These percentages were consistent with those reported the previous year. Of  279,505 drivers involved in the 151,692 crashes reported in 2006, 7,392 drivers were impaired. Though the number of impaired drivers was higher than in 2007, the percentage of impaired drivers involved in auto accidents was 2.9 percent, and 97 percent of the crashes did not involve drunk drivers.