Michigan Drunk-Driving Statistics (2025 Data)

In 2025, 264 people were killed in alcohol-involved traffic crashes in Michigan, 24.8 percent of the 1,065 people who died on Michigan roads that year, and 248 of the state's 1,002 fatal crashes were alcohol-involved.^[1] Those are the most recent official Michigan figures, published by Michigan Traffic Crash Facts for the State Police and the Office of Highway Safety Planning.^[7] Before using any number on this page, check what it counts: Michigan's "alcohol-involved" measure is broader than the federal "alcohol-impaired" measure, and arrest data come from a third source.^[2][8][9]

What the numbers count

Term	Who uses it	What it means
Alcohol-involved (HBD)	Michigan Traffic Crash Facts and the State Police	Any driver, pedestrian or cyclist in the crash was reported by the officer as "had-been-drinking" on the crash report.[2]
Drug-involved	Michigan Traffic Crash Facts	Any driver, pedestrian or cyclist was reported by the officer as suspected of drug use.[10]
Alcohol-impaired-driving crash	NHTSA (federal)	A fatal crash involving a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher, using reported and statistically imputed values; it does not mean alcohol caused the crash.[8]
Reportable crash	Michigan State Police	A motor vehicle in transport on the roadway with a death, an injury or $1,000 or more in property damage ($100 for snowmobiles and off-road vehicles).[11]

The practical effect: "264 people killed in alcohol-involved crashes" is not the same as "264 people killed by drunk drivers." The definition covers crashes where the person reported as drinking was a pedestrian or cyclist rather than a driver; in 2025, in 18 of the 36 pedestrian deaths in alcohol-involved crashes, the pedestrian had been drinking.^[2][12]

Michigan crashes involving alcohol and drugs, 2025

Measure (2025)	Figure
All reported crashes; people killed; people injured	290,221 crashes; 1,065 killed; 70,591 injured.[13]
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes	248 of 1,002 (24.8%).[1]
People killed in alcohol-involved crashes	264 (24.8% of deaths).[1]
Drug-involved fatal crashes; deaths	195 (19.5%); 210 deaths.[10]
Fatal crashes by category	149 alcohol only, 96 drugs only, 99 both, 658 neither.[14]
Deaths by category	160 alcohol only, 106 drugs only, 104 both, 695 neither.[15]
People injured in alcohol- or drug-involved crashes	3,865 alcohol only, 783 drugs only, 899 both.[16]
Crashes of all severities involving drinking	8,335, of which 1,254 (15.0%) also involved drug use.[12]
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes with only one vehicle	142 of 248 (57.3%).[13]

Adding alcohol and drugs together, the State Police say about 34.7 percent of Michigan's 2025 traffic deaths involved alcohol and/or drugs.^[11] Of all fatal crashes, 14.9 percent involved drinking but no drugs, 9.6 percent drugs but no drinking, and 9.9 percent both.^[17]

The change from 2024

Alcohol-involved deaths fell from 307 in 2024 to 264 in 2025, a drop of about 14 percent, and drug-involved deaths fell from 272 to 210, about 23 percent, according to the Office of Highway Safety Planning.^[3] In 2024, 276 of 1,012 fatal crashes (27.3 percent) were alcohol-involved.^[18] Figures of "307" or "276" on other websites are 2024 numbers, not current ones.^[18] Michigan's "SAFER by 2030" initiative aims to cut roadway deaths 30 percent by 2030.^[19]

Who was involved, and when

• Drinking drivers. Of 8,244 drinking drivers in Michigan crashes in 2025, 70.9 percent were male and 29.1 percent female; 20.1 percent were 24 or younger and 6.3 percent were 65 or older.^[12]
• Motorcyclists. 43 of 151 motorcyclist deaths (28.5 percent) came from alcohol-involved crashes.^[1]
• Pedestrians. 36 of 184 pedestrian deaths (19.6 percent) came from alcohol-involved crashes, and in 18 of them the pedestrian had been drinking.^[12]
• Timing. Saturday (69) and Sunday (44) had the most alcohol-involved fatal crashes; the 11:00 PM hour had the most of any hour (26); August had the most of any month (33).^[12]
• Holiday weekends. Over the Labor Day weekends from 2021 to 2025, 46 drivers were killed in Michigan crashes, and 39.1 percent of them were alcohol- and/or drug-impaired, according to the State Police.^[19]

OWI arrests and test refusals, 2025

Michigan law requires the State Police to publish an annual Michigan Drunk Driving Audit with county-by-county crash and arrest data, due July 1 each year.^[20] Its arrest figures come from breath-test reports officers file at the time of arrest, and the State Police caution against comparing them with arrest numbers on the Crime in Michigan dashboard.^[9]

Measure (2025 audit)	Figure
Total OWI-type arrests	24,690 (17,645 men, 7,045 women), about 24.4 per 10,000 residents.[4]
Arrests in the "OUIL" category (under the influence, .08+, high BAC, drugs)	23,791.[21][15]
Other arrest categories	406 operating while impaired; 164 under-21; 137 drug offense in a death or serious-injury crash; 133 child endangerment; 32 OWI causing death; 27 OWI causing serious injury; 0 commercial .04.[15]
How arrested drivers were tested	7,478 breath (30.29%); 12,446 blood (50.41%); 4,766 refused (19.30%).[5]
Implied-consent (refusal) license suspensions of residents	3,932.[22]
Secretary of State alcohol/drug driving sanctions	23,385, including 10,840 for OWI and 11,650 for OWVI.[23]

Two cautions. First, a refusal recorded at arrest does not always become a suspension: 4,766 refusals were recorded, but 3,932 residents were suspended, and the audit does not explain the difference.^[5][22] Second, the audit lists 17,431 convictions of Michigan residents for operating while impaired but only 406 arrests on that charge; the conviction column counts residents' convictions from Secretary of State records, and some may come from prior-year arrests, so the columns do not support a conviction rate.^[15]

National figures (NHTSA, 2024 data)

• 11,904 people were killed in U.S. alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2024, 30 percent of all traffic deaths, down 3.9 percent from 12,382 in 2023; that is about one death every 44 minutes.^[6]
• 68 percent of those deaths (8,097) were in crashes where a driver had a BAC of .15 or higher.^[24]
• Drivers aged 21 to 24 had the highest share of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes (28 percent); male drivers (22 percent) were more often impaired than female drivers (16 percent).^[6]
• An estimated 221 of 1,032 traffic deaths of children 14 and younger (21 percent) occurred in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes.^[24]
• NHTSA estimates that, of Michigan's 1,098 traffic deaths in 2024, 306 (28 percent) occurred in crashes with a driver at .08 or higher.^[25]
• NHTSA estimates alcohol-impaired crashes cost $58 billion of the $340 billion economic cost of all U.S. crashes in 2019, the most recent cost year.^[26]

A 2023 national survey estimated that 15.5 million U.S. residents 16 and older drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year, and 12.1 million under the influence of cannabis; these are self-reported estimates, not arrests.^[27] A trauma-center study of 4,243 seriously injured drivers from 2019 to 2021 found 54 percent tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs; a positive test is not by itself proof of impairment.^[28]

Numbers people get wrong

• Stale national figures. The CDC's impaired-driving page (dated January 2026) still reports 13,524 deaths in 2022, one every 39 minutes.^[29] NHTSA's newer 2024 figure is 11,904.^[6]
• Mixing measures. Michigan's 307 alcohol-involved deaths in 2024 and NHTSA's 306 alcohol-impaired deaths for Michigan that year are close but are different measures from different methods.^[18][25]
• Treating .15 as Michigan's high-BAC line. NHTSA reports a .15 category; Michigan's high-BAC offense starts at 0.17.^[24][30]
• Assuming .08 everywhere. Every state uses .08, except that Utah has used .05 since December 30, 2018; commercial drivers face .04 under federal rules.^[24] Michigan's own limits are explained in Michigan's blood alcohol limits.

Where the data come from

Michigan Traffic Crash Facts is prepared by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute with funding from the Office of Highway Safety Planning and NHTSA, and its query tool covers crash years 2004 to 2025.^[7] For 2025, the State Police publish statewide data through the Michigan Traffic Crash Dashboard, which replaced the old PDF year-end report.^[31] Questions about the audit's crash and arrest data go to the State Police Traffic Crash Reporting Unit at 517-241-1699, and questions about its conviction data to the Michigan Department of State at 517-322-1598.^[32] County figures for West Michigan are in impaired-driving crashes in West Michigan counties. For people affected by a crash, see rights of people injured by impaired drivers and getting help for alcohol or drug use.