This 2023 holiday season, we again present our yearly column on the dangers of drinking and driving. Further, we again this year bring to light the condition of the tires that many collector car owners usually take for granted.
There are those owners who buy a muscle car from the 1960s and don’t give serious attention to the tires, which are probably many years old, yet still look good. So, don’t try making a quarter-mile run. It is a muscle car that is riding on tires that are 25 years old. You might not make it to the finish no matter how good they look.
According to stats I’ve researched the last few years, accidents involving alcohol and drugs increased by some 25-percent estimated. Alarming are the DUI fatalities, whereas even with full-year 2023 stats not yet available, it looks like driver fatalities are still very troublesome. Thanks to The Zebra, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), here are more troubling stats on drinking and driving.
The interior of a 1970 Chevelle features seat belts but not much else when it comes to driver protection. Air bags were years away, as were other lessening of impact chassis advancements that are now built into modern day muscle cars. (Chevrolet)
About one-third of car crash fatalities in the U.S. involve drunk drivers. According to the NHTSA, each day about 28 people in America die in drunk-driving car crashes.
Over a 10-year period, more than 10,000 people die each year in drunk driving car accidents, says NHTSA. On a good note, three years ago drunk-driving deaths in the United States reached its lowest level (10,142) since 1982, which is the year the NHTSA began collecting data on drunk driving fatalities.
Also, according to NHTSA, drunk drivers face jail time when they’re caught, and the budgetary impact can be overwhelming. On average, a DUI can set you back $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, higher insurance rates, car towing, and more. And, drinking and driving can result in losing your driver’s license.
The yearly cost of alcohol-related car crashes is more than $44 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Alcohol-impaired drivers got behind the wheel of a car about 147 million times back in 2018, according to the CDC. This is a most troublesome number.
According to NHTSA, just five years ago 32% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes while driving at night were drunk. Further, almost twice as many alcohol-related and fatal car crashes occur during the weekend.
Based on averages, there are four male, alcohol-impaired drivers for every one female alcohol-impaired driver out on the road, says NHTSA.
NHTSA said that four years ago, 50,930 drivers were involved in fatal car crashes with an estimated 19% of the drivers alcohol impaired.
As for age group demographics and probabilities, The Zebra is the nation’s leading car insurance comparison company that conducted a recent DUI survey (see www.thezebra.com). It found that 35.8-percent of Generation Y (millennials), aged 25 to 39, are most likely to drink and drive. Next in line is Generation Z, aged 16 to 24, at 31.0-percent, followed by Generation X, aged 40 to 54, at 19.0-percent. Bringing up the rear are the Baby Boomers, aged 55 to 75, who come in at 14.1-percent.
Interestingly, nearly 40-percent of The Zebra respondents feel that the Baby Boomers would be the highest percentage of drunk driving offenders, yet they turned out to be the lowest DUI delinquent age group.
So, as we continue through these troubled holiday weeks, we always present our “Saga of young Joe,” the fun loving 26-year-old who is full of life, has lots of friends and is a good person. He loves driving his 1970 Chevelle SS454, with its big-block V8 under the hood. Because Joe lives in a warm climate state, taking his beauty out during the Christmas holiday is routine.
Joe could be your son, sibling, parent, friend, co-worker or husband. He’s having a wonderful time at a family dinner and quickly volunteers to make a run to the supermarket for needed refreshment refills. Even though he’s had too many, he feels okay driving his beautiful SS454 and is quickly on his way. It’s only 8 p.m. and thank goodness he’s alone.
Joe is oblivious that on this night he’ll become one of the 30,000-plus estimated drivers that will die in car accidents in 2023. He’s unaware he’s going 65-mph and approaching a curve that should be taken at 35-mph.
His reactions, meanwhile, have been diminished by his alcohol consumption and to make things worse, his cell phone starts ringing, too. Joe is now totally distracted and he’s going too fast to make the curve. He also forgot to buckle his seatbelt when he left his mom’s house and before Joe even knew it his SS454 was off the road and headed directly toward a large tree.
There is no correcting.
Joe’s Chevelle hits the tree head-on with a resounding and loud metal crunch.
At 1/10th of a second, the car’s front bumper and grillwork collapse.
At 2/10ths of a second, the hood crumbles, rises, and smashes into the windshield. The grillwork now disintegrates.
At 3/10ths of a second, Joe is sprung upright from his seat. His legs are immediately broken, and his knees crash against the dashboard. The steering wheel bends under his grip.
At 4/10ths of a second, the front of the SS454 is destroyed and is now completely still. However, the rear end of the car is still traveling at 55-mph, and the 600-pound V8 engine and accessories are crunched further into the tree.
At 5/10ths of a second, the impact rips Joe’s sneakers clean off his feet. The Chevelle’s chassis bends in the middle, and Joe’s head is slammed into the windshield. The car’s rear end begins its downward fall as the spinning wheels churn into the ground.
At 6/10ths of a second, the entire body of the SS454 is twisted out of shape while the front bucket seat continues to ram forward.
At 7/10ths of a second, Joe’s chest is pinned against the steering wheel shaft while his internal organs crash against his rib cage.
At 8/10ths of a second, Joe is dead.
He’s just become another fatal accident statistic.
The lesson to learn from Joe’s tragic ending? More than 25-percent of all traffic-related deaths are the direct result of alcohol impairment. Further some 800 people per day are injured in drunk driving crashes. (NHTSA)
Therefore, if you plan to drive after having even a few beers or even two shots of whiskey, be fully aware of the dire consequences. Most of my readers know older muscle cars are not known for doing well in any type of impact. They just don’t offer the high-end safety equipment that is now common in our modern vehicles.
Next week, we’ll look at more disturbing driving stats, this time cell phone usage and texting while driving. Remember it’s not just the young drivers at fault here as middle-aged to baby-boomers are DUI statistics, too. They are all dangerous on our highways.
Be safe everyone and please don’t drink and drive.
(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist. He welcomes reader questions and comments on collector cars, auto nostalgia or motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com or at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840.)
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