New York has a low statewide per-capita rate of alcohol-involved traffic deaths, yet county rates vary widely. An analysis of federal crash records from 2019 to 2023.
The statewide alcohol-involved traffic-death rate in New York is low compared with the national rate, but that statewide figure hides large local variation. This analysis maps every alcohol-involved fatal crash in New York from 2019 through 2023 using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System, known as FARS. NHTSA is the federal traffic-safety agency, and FARS is its census of fatal motor-vehicle crashes.
County alcohol-involved fatal crash rates
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes per 100,000 residents, by county, 2019 to 2023 (five-year total). Hover or tap a county, and the full ranking is below.
FARS counts a crash as alcohol-involved when at least one driver was recorded as drinking. Figures aggregate five years because single-year county counts are very small.
| County | Alc. fatal crashes, 2019–23 | per 100k (5 yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis | 10 | 37.6 |
| Sullivan | 20 | 25.3 |
| Oswego | 27 | 22.9 |
| Cortland | 10 | 21.6 |
| Yates † | 5 | 20.3 |
| Hamilton † | 1 | 19.6 |
| Madison | 12 | 17.8 |
| Orleans † | 7 | 17.6 |
| Chenango † | 8 | 17.1 |
| Schuyler † | 3 | 16.9 |
| Genesee † | 9 | 15.5 |
| Jefferson | 18 | 15.5 |
| Wayne | 14 | 15.4 |
| Franklin † | 7 | 14.9 |
| Warren † | 9 | 13.7 |
| Washington † | 8 | 13.1 |
| Columbia † | 8 | 13.1 |
| St. Lawrence | 14 | 13.0 |
| Wyoming † | 5 | 12.5 |
| Cattaraugus † | 9 | 11.8 |
| Herkimer † | 7 | 11.7 |
| Chemung † | 9 | 10.9 |
| Tioga † | 5 | 10.4 |
| Suffolk | 156 | 10.2 |
| Montgomery † | 5 | 10.1 |
| Oneida | 23 | 10.0 |
| Otsego † | 6 | 10.0 |
| Ontario | 11 | 9.8 |
| Albany | 31 | 9.8 |
| Orange | 37 | 9.2 |
| Putnam † | 9 | 9.2 |
| Seneca † | 3 | 9.1 |
| Broome | 18 | 9.1 |
| Delaware † | 4 | 9.0 |
| Clinton † | 7 | 8.9 |
| Chautauqua | 11 | 8.7 |
| Rensselaer | 14 | 8.7 |
| Steuben † | 8 | 8.6 |
| Schenectady | 13 | 8.2 |
| Livingston † | 5 | 8.1 |
| Essex † | 3 | 8.1 |
| Cayuga † | 6 | 8.0 |
| Dutchess | 23 | 7.7 |
| Erie | 70 | 7.4 |
| Ulster | 13 | 7.1 |
| Tompkins † | 7 | 6.8 |
| Monroe | 49 | 6.5 |
| Allegany † | 3 | 6.4 |
| Onondaga | 29 | 6.2 |
| Fulton † | 3 | 5.7 |
| Niagara | 12 | 5.7 |
| Nassau | 66 | 4.8 |
| Rockland | 15 | 4.4 |
| Greene † | 2 | 4.2 |
| Saratoga † | 8 | 3.4 |
| Schoharie † | 1 | 3.3 |
| Westchester | 30 | 3.0 |
| Bronx | 40 | 2.8 |
| Queens | 66 | 2.8 |
| Richmond † | 9 | 1.8 |
| Kings | 41 | 1.6 |
| New York (Manhattan) | 24 | 1.5 |
† Small sample, fewer than 10 alcohol-involved fatal crashes over five years. Rates for these counties are statistically noisy and should be read with caution.
A statewide rate with sharp county variation
Rural Upstate counties make up many of the higher-rate counties. Lewis County records 37.6 alcohol-involved fatal crashes per 100,000 residents over five years, followed by Sullivan, Oswego and Cortland. At the other end sit the New York City boroughs, where Manhattan records 1.5 per 100,000 residents.
Analysis. The rate ranking differs from the raw-count ranking. Suffolk and Nassau see the most alcohol-involved fatal crashes by count, but their large populations pull their per-capita rates down. Dense, transit-rich downstate counties give people alternatives to driving and shorter trips, while rural counties pair long drives on fast two-lane roads with fewer transportation options. The data show where recorded per-capita risk is concentrated, not why any individual crash occurred.
When drunk-driving crashes happen
Share of alcohol-involved fatal crashes by day of week, 2019 to 2023.
| Sun | 20.7% |
|---|---|
| Mon | 9.8% |
| Tue | 10.1% |
| Wed | 10.2% |
| Thu | 9% |
| Fri | 15.2% |
| Sat | 25% |
Friday through Sunday account for 61 percent of alcohol-involved fatal crashes, and Saturday alone for a quarter. The midnight hour records the largest count, and the window from 9 PM to 3 AM accounts for 46 percent of these crashes.
How impaired the drivers were
Among New York drivers in fatal crashes with a measured blood-alcohol level above zero.
| At or over 0.08 (legal limit) | 80.1% |
|---|---|
| At or over 0.15 (nearly double) | 57.1% |
Four in five drinking drivers in fatal crashes were at or above the 0.08 legal limit, and well over half were at or above 0.15.
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes by year
New York, 2019 to 2023.
| 2019 | 177 | 16% |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 193 | 17.5% |
| 2021 | 263 | 23.8% |
| 2022 | 253 | 22.9% |
| 2023 | 220 | 19.9% |
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes climbed during the pandemic, peaking at 263 in 2021, before easing to 220 in 2023.
How New York compares nationally
Alcohol-impaired driving remains a national safety problem. Each figure below links to its source.
Two definitions are at work. The county ranking uses FARS alcohol-involved crashes, meaning at least one driver was recorded as drinking, with no statistical imputation. NHTSA's headline alcohol-impaired figures estimate drivers at or above 0.08 and include imputation for untested drivers, so they can differ. The two are labeled separately throughout.
If a drunk driver hurt you in New York
A drunk-driving crash can raise legal questions beyond a standard car-accident case, including questions about the impaired driver and, in some circumstances, a bar or restaurant under New York's Dram Shop Act. The available claims depend on the facts and the law. This report does not predict any case result.
If you were hurt by a drunk or negligent driver in New York, the team at Porter Law Group can review your crash and your options at no cost. There is no obligation.
Methodology
Crashes are counted as alcohol-involved when at least one driver was recorded as drinking in the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System. FARS is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration census of fatal motor-vehicle crashes, and it is the only alcohol measure used here at the county level. The county measure uses no statistical imputation. For 2021 through 2023, where the derived drinking-driver field was discontinued, it was reconstructed from the vehicle-level records and validated against 2019 and 2020, where it reproduced the official counts exactly. Figures aggregate five years, from 2019 through 2023, because single-year county counts are very small. Thirty-two of the sixty-two counties recorded fewer than ten alcohol-involved fatal crashes over the period and are marked as small samples. Population is the Census American Community Survey five-year 2023 estimate, a Census Bureau population table. FARS captures fatal crashes only, not all alcohol-related crashes.
