Fight Drunk Driving
Teaching from a terrible experience
Carolyn Hanig experienced one of the worst things that a mother can imagine. As an air nurse, she was unwittingly called to the scene of her own son’s accident, and had to watch as he struggled in vain for his own life.
Ever since then, Hanig has been speaking at events, conferences and to news organizations about the importance of teaching kids to buckle up and drive safely. Her work helped make Oklahoma one of the first few states to enact legislation mandating seatbelts.
However, education is just as important as law in efforts to encourage road safety and fight drunk driving. That’s why we’re glad to see people like Carolyn Hanig participate in events to educate kids to the perils of drunk driving and underage drinking. Through proper legislation and aggressive education, we can help ensure that fewer moms have to go through what Carolyn Hanig did.
Drunk driving statistics and facts
Many people are now thinking of Thanksgiving, family gatherings and turkey feasts, but for some this holiday also means a lot of driving. In 2008, there were 502 traffic fatalities during the Thanksgiving weekend, including 179 (or 36%) drunk driving fatalities.
On the eve of this holiday The Century Council has released its annual summary of alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The report presents the latest available state-by-state as well as trend data in easy to read graphs.
In 2008 historic low levels of drunk driving fatalities, that is fatalities involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher, were reported overall and among persons under 21 years of age. Since the inception of The Century Council in 1991, drunk driving has declined 26% nationally, and among persons under 21 the decline has been even more significant, decreasing 48%. Unfortunately, the median BAC level among drinking drivers in fatal crashes remains at .16, twice the legal limit, and hardcore drunk drivers continue account for an unequal proportion of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities. In 2008, hardcore drunk drivers were responsible for 68% of the alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities, and drivers with a BAC of .15 or higher in fatal crashes were nine times more likely to be repeat offenders than drivers with no alcohol.
The Century Council has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking – two of society’s top safety concerns – and will continue to support the enactment of comprehensive drunk driving legislation. Much progress has been made over the past 18 years in terms of drunk driving. While The Century Council cannot claim sole responsibility for these significant reductions, The Century Council has been a leader in reaching these record low levels. We hope the information presented in the report will serve as a useful reference tool in the fight to eliminate drunk driving this holiday and in the coming year.
Brandon Tells His Story in St. Louis
This morning, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster worked with us to bring Brandon Silveria's life-saving message about the dangers of drunk driving and underage drinking to Missouri students. Brandon and his father Tony spoke to students of Clayton High School in St. Louis about the importance of "making the right choice" about alcohol – which means saying NO if you’re underage.
"In 2008, 1,697 youth aged 12-20 were killed in alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities across the country," said Attorney General Koster. "It is important we continue in our efforts to stop drunk driving and underage drinking. We must do more to keep our nation’s roadways safe and alcohol-free. I am proud to have Brandon and Tony Silveria with us today to communicate their life-saving message."
Check out the pictures from the event below!
Binge drinking and the hardcore drunk driver
In 2008, the median BAC of someone arrested for drunk driving was .16, according to drunk driving statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It takes a considerable amount of alcohol to reach that high of a BAC.
A recent news article cited a Center for Disease Control and Prevention study on people who participate in the irresponsible consumption of alcohol, or binge drinking, and found that 12 percent of participants in the study reported that they had driven within two hours of consuming their last drink.
As the article notes, binge drinking plays a significant factor in the thousands of alcohol-related traffic crashes each year. Drivers with a high BAC, or hardcore drunk drivers, are a unique segment of our population and deserve special attention. The Century Council has developed several tools to help address these DUI offenders. We urge you learn more about The Century Council’s initiatives to fight drunk driving.
The potential of ignition interlocks
From The New York Times:
"Here are two compelling facts about ignition-interlock devices for preventing drunk driving. One is that these devices are highly effective, despite the logical possibilities for bypassing them. The second is that they are rarely installed in the cars of people who have been known to drive while intoxicated.”
The Century Council supports mandatory ignition interlock use for hardcore drunk drivers and for people who refuse to take a BAC test. For first-time, non-hardcore offenders, we support judicial discretion on a case by case basis regarding the decision to install an ignition interlock device.
Statistics show DUIs among women are on the rise
An article in the news today highlights the increasing number of women that are being arrested for drunk driving. The article references an FBI study that shows the number of women arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs was 28.8 percent higher in 2007 than it was in 1998, while the number of men arrested was 7.5 percent lower (the study covers about 56 percent of the country). The article also mentions that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s drunk driving enforcement efforts this year will focus on women.
In 2006, The Century Council launched Girl Talk: Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking, an initiative that encourages mothers and daughters to engage in an ongoing dialogue about the dangers of underage drinking and the specific risks facing teenage girls. The program recently partnered with Girl Talk: Desire to Inspire, a peer-to-peer mentoring program that offers positive weekly meetings and community service projects for middle school girls.
The data is clear that while men represent the majority of drunk driving arrests, more and more evidence suggests that the gap between men and women is narrowing. With programs such as Girl Talk: Desire to Inspire, The Century Council is working to educate young women about the unique risks they face from underage drinking with the goal of helping them learn how to make responsible decisions that will serve them well, both, now and later in life.