Alcohol impaired driving is one of America’s most-often-committed and deadliest crimes.

In 2008, 37,261 people nationwide were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Alcohol-impaired driving accounted for 32 percent of the motor vehicle traffic fatalities. [Source: NHTSA]

In 2008, of the 13,846 alcohol-related fatalities, 53% or 7,378, involved a hardcore offender. Hardcore offenders are persons with a BAC of .15 or greater, or with a prior DWI arrest. [Source: NHTSA]

Between 1983 and 2007, more than 220,000 people died in crashes involving hardcore drinking drivers. [Source: NTSB]

In 2006, hardcore drinking drivers were involved in a minimum of 9,414 alcohol-related fatalities, the estimated cost of which was over $9.1 billion. [Source: NTSB]

Repeat DWI offenders are over represented in fatal crashes, and have a greater relative risk to kill another person. [Source: NHTSA and NTSB]

During an average weekend night, about 1 percent of drivers have BACs of .15 or greater and about two-thirds of fatally injured drinking drivers have BACs of .15 or greater. [Source: NHTSA]

A driver with a .08 BAC in a fatal crash is 8 times more likely to have a prior DWI conviction than a person with no alcohol present. [Source: NHTSA]

Drivers at .15 BAC and above are at least 20 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a non-drinking driver. [Source: NHTSA]

It is estimated that half of all drivers arrested and half of those convicted of DWI have BACs of .15 or greater. [Source: NHTSA]

Hardcore impaired drivers are not impacted by the same general deterrence methods, such as public awareness campaigns, or only traditional sanctions such as incarceration.

Hardcore impaired drivers meet the clinical diagnosis of alcohol dependence and abuse.