Update: alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities among youth and young adults--United States, 1982-1994.

Approximately one third of deaths among persons aged 15-24 years result from motor-vehicle crashes (1). Although alcohol use increases the risk for motor-vehicle crashes for all drivers, for young drivers the risk begins to increase at very low blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) (2). In addition, in young persons who drive after drinking, the relative risk for crash involvement is greater at all BACs than for older drivers who drink (3). This report is based on data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and describes trends in alcohol involvement among drivers in fatal traffic crashes and trends in all alcohol-related traffic fatalities (ARTFs) in the United States from 1982 through 1994 among youth and young adults.