Impaired drivers: half as many crashes, but no less deadly
· Data as of 24 October 2026
Crashes caused by impaired drivers in Lithuania have almost halved in a decade: from 357 in 2015 to 196 in 2025. But when one happens, it still ends worse than others: over five years, drivers at fault who were drunk or on drugs caused 9% of injury crashes but 15% of the deaths.
A decade: almost half as many
In 2015, an impaired driver was at fault in almost one in eight (12%) injury crashes; in 2025, in one in fourteen (7%). The steepest fall came recently: 2025 saw 20% fewer such crashes than the 2022–2024 average. The total number of crashes changed little over the period, so it is the share of impaired drivers that is falling.
Source: Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, injury crashes; ivykiuzemelapis.lt calculations.
Fewer crashes, but no less deadly
In 2021–2025, impaired drivers at fault caused 1,209 injury crashes, in which 101 people died. That is 8.4 deaths per 100 such crashes — almost twice the rate of other crashes (4.6). 2025 had the fewest such crashes in a decade, yet 21 people died in them, against 12 in 2024.
Night, weekends, rural roads
By day an impaired driver is at fault in about one in eighteen crashes (5.5%), in the evening in one in eight, and at night, between 10 pm and 6 am, in more than one in four (28%). At weekends the share doubles: impaired drivers caused 14% of crashes on Saturdays and 16% on Sundays, against 6–7% on weekdays.
Outside the cities the problem is twice as large: in municipalities other than the cities, impaired drivers caused 11% of crashes, in the city municipalities 6%.
- Day (6 am–6 pm)5.5%
- Evening (6–10 pm)12.3%
- Night (10 pm–6 am)28.1%
Source: Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, injury crashes; ivykiuzemelapis.lt calculations.
Not "just one drink"
Lithuania allows driving up to 0.4‰ of blood alcohol (0.2‰ for some drivers). Drunk drivers who cause crashes are usually far drunker, though: of the 1,093 drivers at fault whose blood alcohol was measured in 2021–2025, two in three (66%) had 1.5‰ or more, and one in five over 2.5‰ — a level at which coordination fails and reactions slow badly.
- ≤ 0.4‰63
- 0.4–1.0‰113
- 1.0–1.5‰195
- 1.5–2.0‰236
- 2.0–2.5‰245
- > 2.5‰241
Source: Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, injury crashes; ivykiuzemelapis.lt calculations.
Who drives drunk
89% of drunk drivers at fault are men. Most are aged 25–44 (51%); 14% are under 25 and 17% over 55. Drunk driving is not just a young drivers' problem — it is a problem of men of every age.
About the figures
An impaired driver at fault is one with a reading of 0.4‰ or more, or one recorded as drunk, under the influence of drugs or psychotropic substances, or as having refused a test. Only injury crashes are counted. The same definition is used by the "Alcohol & impairment" chart and the time-of-day charts.