Global Drunk-Driving Deaths Fell 28% Since 2010, Report Finds

A policewoman measures the breath alcohol content of a driver with a breathalyzer to determine whether he is possibly under the influence of alcohol March 8, 2024, in Bavaria, Aschaffenburg, Germany. (Photo: Heiko Becker/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Deaths linked to drink-driving worldwide have fallen 28% since 2010, outpacing the broader decline in road traffic fatalities, according to a new report released by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking.

Drawing on data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease 2024 study, the report found that age-standardized mortality from alcohol-attributable road injuries declined 28% between 2010 and 2024. Over the same period, overall road injury mortality from all causes fell 13%.

The findings come ahead of this month’s United Nations High-Level Meeting on Road Safety, as countries assess progress toward the U.N.’s goal of cutting road deaths related to alcohol and other psychoactive substances by half by 2030.

The report found that progress has been strongest in wealthier nations. Alcohol-attributable road injury mortality declined 30% in high-income countries and 41% in upper-middle-income countries during the study period.

Lower-middle-income countries recorded a more modest 12% decline.

Low-income countries, however, moved in the opposite direction. According to the report, alcohol-attributable road injury mortality increased 26% between 2010 and 2024, leaving death rates roughly double the global average.

IARD President and CEO Julian Braithwaite said the findings demonstrate that sustained enforcement of drink-driving laws, public awareness campaigns and road safety initiatives can reduce fatalities but warned that progress remains uneven.

The report attributes much of the disparity to differences in law enforcement, policing resources, trauma care and long-term investment in road safety.

Country-level data also showed notable differences. Nations including Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Denmark and Switzerland recorded substantial declines in alcohol-related road deaths over the period.

The United States, however, showed little improvement. According to the report’s estimates, the U.S. alcohol-attributable road injury mortality rate remained essentially unchanged between 2010 and 2024.

A separate survey cited in the report found that while between 90% and 98% of respondents across 39 countries said drink-driving was socially unacceptable, 10% to 14% admitted they had driven when they believed they may have been over the legal blood alcohol limit.

The report argues that education alone is insufficient and recommends stronger enforcement, including roadside testing, tougher penalties and wider adoption of ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders.

The International Alliance for Responsible Drinking is a not-for-profit organization supported by major global beer, wine and spirits producers, including AB InBev, Bacardi, Diageo, Heineken, Molson Coors and Pernod Ricard. The report is based on Global Burden of Disease estimates, which differ from World Health Organization methodologies and should not be directly compared with WHO alcohol-attributable death estimates.