The Burrow
Mar 6, 2026
Several factors contribute to drunk driving, including social pressures, misjudging the effects of alcohol, and poor planning after a night out. While law enforcement measures like random breath tests and penalties play an important role, they alone cannot fully address the issue. This is why road safety campaigns and responsible driving education remain vital for shifting attitudes and encouraging safer behaviours on the road.
The latest report from car insurance comparison service Compare the Market examines drunk driving trends in both the U.S. and Australia, focusing on alcohol-involved fatalities and random breath testing (RBT) results. By analysing data on the percentage of positive breath tests, road fatalities, and alcohol consumption per capita, we’ve ranked U.S. and Australian states to highlight where alcohol-impaired driving remains a serious concern. The findings underscore the ongoing challenge of reducing impaired driving and improving road safety.
The following states stand out for having the highest proportion of fatal crashes involving alcohol, identifying where drunk driving remains a particularly serious road safety issue. These figures show the urgent need for stronger prevention, tougher fines for drunk driving, and continued road safety campaigns to reduce avoidable loss of life.
Hawaii records the highest share of fatal crashes involving alcohol, with 43 of its 93 total fatalities linked to drunk driving, which is an alarming 46.2%. While ethanol consumption per capita sits at 2.66 gallons, the proportion of alcohol-related deaths highlights a serious ongoing risk on the state’s roads.
With 1,957 alcohol-involved deaths out of 4,291 total fatalities, Texas reports one of the largest numbers of drink-driving deaths in the country, representing 45.6% of all road fatalities. Despite slightly lower ethanol consumption per capita at 2.26 gallons, the sheer scale of loss underscores the urgent importance of responsible driving.
In the District of Columbia, 20 out of 44 road deaths involved alcohol, meaning 45.5% of all fatalities were linked to drink driving. While the total number of fatalities is smaller compared to larger states, the high percentage shows that alcohol remains a major contributor to fatal crashes.
Iowa recorded 169 alcohol-involved fatalities from a total of 377 deaths, with 44.8% of fatal crashes linked to alcohol. The state’s ethanol consumption per capita of 2.39 gallons also suggests that alcohol remains a significant factor in fatal crashes.
South Carolina saw 463 alcohol-related fatalities out of 1,047 total road deaths, meaning 44.2% of fatal crashes involved alcohol. Combined with an ethanol consumption rate of 2.16 gallons per capita, these numbers represent a persistent problem with drunk driving and the importance of sustained education and strict penalties.
Some states stand out for particularly high levels of alcohol consumption, which can increase the overall risk of drunk driving. New Hampshire records the highest ethanol consumption at 4.67 gallons per capita, while Delaware ranks second at 3.52.
In contrast, several states report a lower proportion of fatal crashes involving alcohol, suggesting that effective policy and cultural factors can make a difference. In Mississippi, 175 of 732 total fatalities involved alcohol, meaning 23.9% of deaths were linked to drink driving, despite ethanol consumption of 2.17 gallons per capita.
Utah records both the lowest ethanol consumption per capita at 1.35 gallons and one of the lowest proportions of alcohol-involved fatalities, with 68 of 280 deaths (24.3%) linked to alcohol. Stricter alcohol laws and enforcement may play a role in these outcomes, reinforcing the value of regulation alongside education.
Demographic data also shows that men remain disproportionately represented in alcohol-impaired driving, accounting for 22% (9,155) of cases in 2023, compared with 16% (2,339) among female drivers in the same year.
Up to November 2025, Australia recorded 1214 fatalities on our roads, compared to 1292 in 2024, showing that a high volume of deaths on Australian roads continues. These deaths can be attributed to several factors such as speeding, distracted driving, higher traffic volume, tired and drug driving.
Drink driving is another contributing factor to the nation’s road death toll, with 12% of fatal crashes in 2023 involving drunk drivers. However, this number has steadily fallen over the last 10 years from 20.5% in 2013, thanks to increased random breath testing and public awareness and education campaigns.1
With this in mind, we decided to investigate random breath testing activities across Australian states and territories to understand better how they detect drunk drivers.
New South Wales conducted 3,432,588 random breath tests in 2024, the highest number across Australia and expected for the country’s most populous state. Despite the significant number of breath tests the state conducted, just 0.40% of them returned positive for alcohol.
Queensland was another of the country’s most populous states that conducted a large number of breath tests – 1,868,017 in 2024 – with 0.80% of those tests returning positive, double what their southern neighbours, New South Wales, had with more tests!
Western Australia was another leading state for breath tests, with 2,117,291 conducted, of which 0.50% were positive. Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, conducted over 2 million tests (2,003,310), but had the lowest positivity rate at 0.30%.
At the other end of the scale, the Australian Capital Territory had the fewest breath tests, with 80,098 conducted in 2024. Despite a relatively low number of breath tests, Australia’s second least populous state achieved a 0.80% positive rate. South Australia also recorded 0.80% positives from the 545,202 tests it conducted.
The Northern Territory was another that had a lower number of tests, conducting 105,824 in 2024. However, they had the highest percentage of positives at 8.20%.
Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market, says:
“Alcohol related incidents continue to play a major role in road deaths across Australia. Drink driving is a common exclusion on car insurance policies, which means if you choose to drink and drive, you’re risking a significant financial burden – but more importantly, your own safety and the well-being of others on the road.
“With the convenience of rideshare and accessible public transport across Australia, there’s simply no excuse for getting behind the wheel after drinking.”
This dataset ranks Australian states/territories based on their presence of drink driving using three key factors. Each factor’s data was normalised to a score between 0 and 1. If data were missing, a score of 0 was given. These scores were then combined to give each state/territory an average score out of 1, and states/territories were ranked from highest to lowest.
The factors used were as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
Sources:
This dataset also contains a ranking of US states, ordered by the percentage of fatalities where alcohol was involved, with a breakdown for 2022 and 2023.
All data is correct as of 12/01/26. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of the sources provided.