The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has decided not to prosecute John Kerry’s daughter Alexandra for drunk driving. Kerry’s daughter, you might remember, was driving below the legal limit. It doesn’t hurt that she comes from an important family. But if you get “caught” driving after having a glass of beer or wine with dinner, the prosecutor might not be so kind.
It’s curious why state law enforcement target under-the-limit drivers when we know that it’s the high-BAC drivers who cause the vast majority of fatal crashes and are the riskiest drivers. Take a look at this chart:
In fact, the average BAC of a driver involved in a fatal crash is .19 BAC – that’s more than double the legal limit of .08 (and more than triple what Kerry’s BAC was)! Police, state legislatures, and public awareness campaigns should target this dangerous population – not sober drivers like Alexandra Kerry.
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.