The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 33,808 people died in traffic crashes in 2009 in the United States, including an estimated 10,839 people who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for 32% or 1/3 of all traffic deaths last year, that is, on average someone is killed in an alcohol-impaired driving crash about every 50 minutes in the U.S.
(Source: NHTSA/FARS/CDC, 2010)