California statistics provided by the California Highway Patrol’s 2005 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) and California Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Center):

• In California in 2005, 1,574 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, up from 1,462 fatalities in 2004 – an increase of almost eight percent.  Additionally in 2005, there were 30,810 people injured in alcohol-related crashes, down from 31,538 in 2004.
• In California in 2005, 182,414 people were arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), including 6,030 felony arrests and 176,384 misdemeanors.

National statistics provided by NHTSA’s Center for Statistics and Analysis (Alcohol Traffic Safety Facts 2005):

• Nationally, there were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005, representing 39 percent of the total traffic fatalities for the year.  This represents an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes.
• Nationally, traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes fell by 0.2 percent, from 16,919 in 2004 to 16,885 in 2005.
• In 2005, more than half (52 percent) of the drivers involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .16 or above.
• Nationally, the rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than three times higher at night, compared to daytime offenses.  For all crashes, the rate of alcohol involvement is five times higher at night.
• In 2005, 30 percent of all fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-related, compared to 52 percent on weekends. 
• In 2005, 21 percent of the children age 14 and younger who were killed in motor vehicle crashes were killed in alcohol-related crashes.
• In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program estimated that more than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.  This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.