The findings suggest that while alcohol consumption increased during lockdowns, the root causes of the rise in deadly crashes go far beyond individual drinking habits. Rather, they reflect broader systemic issues: worsening mental health, weakened law enforcement visibility, and shifts in state alcohol policy.
The study underscores the urgent need for a multifaceted strategy to reduce impaired driving—one that pairs enforcement with public health resources.
Prior to the pandemic, roughly 28 percent of passenger-vehicle drivers killed in crashes were legally intoxicated, with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08% or higher.
But in 2020, that number climbed to 30 percent and has remained persistently high through 2022.
Researchers found that for each one-point increase in adults reporting major depressive episodes, there were 304 additional deaths from impaired driving. A half-point increase in suicide planning was tied to 322 more deaths.
These figures track with other research showing that alcohol consumption spiked early in the pandemic: by May 2020, 60 percent of U.S. adults reported drinking more. Alcohol sales data from March 2020 through August 2021 also confirmed higher volumes than in the same period before the pandemic.
At the same time, law enforcement saw a nationwide decline in full-time officers. An average reduction of five officers per 100,000 residents between 2018 and 2022 was associated with an estimated 214 more deaths from impaired driving each year.
Departments pulled back on proactive enforcement—such as traffic stops and sobriety checkpoints—due to COVID-19 concerns and social unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.
Meanwhile, the expansion of state alcohol laws in 2020 had mixed results: allowing home delivery of alcohol was linked to 304 more deaths per year, while permitting to-go drinks paradoxically correlated with about 450 fewer deaths annually.
Despite these nuances, researchers say the greater impact of the mental health crisis compared to policing cuts suggests a major policy gap: the lack of widespread programs that treat impaired driving as a symptom of deeper mental and emotional struggles.
Though some efforts have been made to address impaired driving through a mental health lens, such approaches remain uncommon. One notable exception is the use of specialized DUI courts.
These courts, overseen by prosecutors and judges with expertise in drunk driving cases, aim to reduce repeat offenses by combining strict supervision with rehabilitative measures such as counseling, support groups, and mental health treatment. As of 2024, there were 295 DUI courts operating across the United States, according to the National Treatment Court Resource Center.
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