How Does New York State Compare With Other States For Drunk Driving?

The subject of drunk driving is a somber one. That's a no-brainer. Drunk driving is an evil that needs to end, but unfortunately, the odds of that happening anytime soon are probably slim to none.

According to the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nationwide, approximately 37 people in the country die in drunk-driving crashes every day. That's an average of about one person every 39 minutes.

The NHTSA notes that in 2021, there were 13,384 deaths due to drunk driving crashes. As I'm writing this article, a medical helicopter was flying over my house. I wonder who's being flown to the hospital, and if its a drunk driving victim. Approximately 31 percent of all traffic crash fatalities in the U.S. involves drunk drivers.

But here's something interesting. I checked the Forbes website for an article from November of 2022, listing the worst state for drunk driving. For some reason I expected New York State to be high on the list.

First off, the worst state was Montana, followed by Wyoming and Texas. The western part of the United States had the most states with the highest rate of drunk driving. And surprisingly, the eastern seaboard states had the lowest.

The state with the lowest rate of drunk driving (not counting the District of Columbia) is New Jersey. According to the Forbes article, 2.04 drunk drivers were involved in fatal crashes for every 100,000 licensed drivers in the Garden State.

New York State ranks at number 47 out of 50 states for the least amount of drunk driving. That's a good thing. According to Forbes, New York State had the 3rd lowest number of people killed in crashes involving a drunk driver, which comes out to 1.46 people killed per 100,000 residents of the Empire State.

Pennsylvania ranks high as well, coming in at 45 out of 50 states for the least amount drunk driving. Forbes notes that in Pennsylvania, just over 236 drivers received a DUI for every 100,000 licensed drivers and just over 28 percent of traffic deaths in 2020 were caused by a drunk driver.