In an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving, students on Western's campus were driving in a collision course using DUI goggles.

The two-day event was held in front of the Preston Center on campus.

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Drunk Driving Statistics

• Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes rose by four percent from 1999 to
  2000.

• The 16,653 alcohol-related fatalities in 2000 (40 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year) represent a 25 percent reduction from the 22,084 alcohol-related fatalities reported in 1990 (50 percent of the total).

• NHTSA estimates that alcohol was involved in 40 percent of fatal crashes and in eight percent of all crashes in 2000.

• The 16,653 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2000 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 32 minutes.

• An estimated 310,000 persons were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present — an average of one person injured approximately every two minutes.

• Approximately 1.5 million drivers were arrested in 1999 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

• This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 121 licensed drivers in the United States.

• About 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.

• In 2000, 31 percent of all traffic fatalities occurred in crashes in which at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of 0.10 g/dl or greater. Sixty-nine percent of the 12,892 people killed in such crashes were themselves intoxicated. The remaining 31 percent were passengers, nonintoxicated drivers, or nonintoxicated nonoccupants.

• In the state of Kentucky, there were 820 total fatalities in 2000. Of those, 203 had a BAC greater than or equal to 0.10, which accounted for 25 percent of the total fatalities.

Source: www.nhtsa.dot.gov (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site) contributed to this report.