Comments on: Alexandra Kerry Was Lucky http://abionline.org/blog/2009/11/25/alexandra-kerry-was-lucky/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:55:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Stephen Beck http://abionline.org/blog/2009/11/25/alexandra-kerry-was-lucky/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Stephen Beck Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:30:43 +0000 http://abionline.org/blog/?p=87#comment-30 The "Kerry's daughter" entry states: "... it's the high-BAC drivers who cause the vast majority of fatal crashes..." That should read: majority of 'alcohol-impaired' fatal crashes. NHTSA defines an "alcohol-impaired" accident as involving at least one participant with a BAC of 0.08 or higher. That includes drinking pedestrians and bicyclists struck by sober drivers. Note too that fault is not assigned; many alcohol-related crashes are caused by sober drivers. Let me add some context: In 2006 for example, there were 10.5 million drivers in accidents in the U.S. Of those drivers, 14 hundredths of 1 percent (0.14%) were alleged drinkers (0.01+) in fatal accidents. The “Kerry’s daughter” entry states: “… it’s the high-BAC drivers who cause the vast majority of fatal crashes…” That should read: majority of ‘alcohol-impaired’ fatal crashes.

NHTSA defines an “alcohol-impaired” accident as involving at least one participant with a BAC of 0.08 or higher. That includes drinking pedestrians and bicyclists struck by sober drivers. Note too that fault is not assigned; many alcohol-related crashes are caused by sober drivers.

Let me add some context: In 2006 for example, there were 10.5 million drivers in accidents in the U.S. Of those drivers, 14 hundredths of 1 percent (0.14%) were alleged drinkers (0.01+) in fatal accidents.

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