• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Institute of Alcohol Studies HomepageInstitute of Alcohol Studies

Bringing together evidence, policy and practice to reduce alcohol harm

  • Home
  • About us
    • People
    • Our strategy
    • Small Grants Scheme
    • Networks
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
  • Publications
  • Explore by Topic
    • Alcohol across society
    • Availability
    • Consumption
    • Economy
    • Health
    • Marketing
    • Price
    • The alcohol industry
    • Transport
    • Violence and crime
    • Help and support
  • News & Comment
    • Latest news and events
    • Blog
    • Alcohol Alert
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • See all
  • Search
News

Fatal drink drive accidents up a fifth

12th February 2015

Provisional estimates from The Department for Transport indicate that between 230 and 290 people (central estimate 260) were killed in drink drive accidents in Great Britain. Drink drive deaths now account for around 15% of all road fatalities.

There were also an estimated 250 fatal drink drive accidents in 2013, an increase of 19% (40) on 2012 (210). If this figure is confirmed in the final figures later this year, it will be the highest number of fatal drink drive accidents since 2009.

In contrast, the total number of drink-drive accidents of all severities fell by 14% to 5,710 in 2013. This means that around 4% of all reported road traffic accidents in 2013 involved at least one driver over the drink limit. It is also the lowest number of drink drive accidents on record.

In 2013/14, 5.9% of drivers admitted to driving when they thought that they might have been over the drink-drive limit. Self-reporting figures also revealed drink-driving problems among young drivers, with nearly a tenth (9.1%) of drivers in their 20s admitting to drink-driving compared with around 5.6% of drivers aged 40 or older.

Historically, figures showing the number of drink-drive fatalities in drink drive accidents today are more than six times lower than in 1979, when records began. The total number of drink drive casualties has fallen by 74% since.

‘Estimates for reported road traffic accidents involving illegal alcohol levels: 2013 (second provisional)’ is a Department for Transport release which presents estimates of casualties arising from reported accidents involving at least one motor vehicle driver or rider over the legal alcohol limit for driving, in Great Britain in 2013. Figures are derived from the Stats19 forms completed by the police plus toxicology data for road fatalities from coroners and procurators fiscal.

More news items
Over half of violent crime alcohol-related
Young teetotallers on the rise

Footer

IAS is proud to be a member of

  • Twitter
  • Bluesky
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Contact us

©2025 Institute of Alcohol Studies

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok