How safe are D.C.-area roads when it comes to issues related to drunken driving? Your answer may depend on which data you examine.
In 2018, roads regionwide saw 85 alcohol and/or drug-impaired traffic fatalities, which is a 1.16% percent decrease from the previous year. The number of local impaired driving injuries also decreased by more than 6%. But, the total number of drunken-driving crashes went up by 0.56%.
“It’s the proverbial mixed bag,” said Kurt Erickson, president of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, or WRAP.
Erickson spoke with 草莓传媒 before presenting WRAP’s 27th-annual “” to the Council of Governments’ on Wednesday.
The report parses the latest data available and finds:
- Fatalities. Local alcohol and/or drug-impaired traffic fatalities decreased by 1.16% between 2017 and 2018 (from 86 to 85 such fatalities).
- Crashes. Area traffic crashes attributed to alcohol and/or drugs increased 0.56% between 2017 and 2018 (from 4,311 to 4,335 such crashes), while the total number of metro-area fatal crashes rose by 3.69%.
- Injuries. Regional alcohol and/or drug-related traffic injuries decreased 6.19% between 2017 and 2018 (from 1,986 to 1,863 such injuries).
- Arrests. Local arrests for either driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while impaired (DWI) increased 3.51% between 2017 and 2018 (from 13,808 to 14,293 such arrests).
D.C. has been particularly aggressive regarding enforcement.
“They had a nearly 8% increase in these DUI arrests, again for the sixth consecutive year in 2018,” Erickson said.
Still, that number of drunken-driving arrests is not good, he said.
“It’s universally a negative that we are still are a region that annually arrests nearly 14,000 persons for DUI and that nearly a third, 30%, of all traffic deaths still in this region involve drunk drivers,” Erickson told members of the Transportation Planning Board who had gathered virtually.
“Again, that’s a 100% preventable crime,” Erickson declared.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2018 that 29% of total U.S. vehicular deaths involved someone alcohol-impaired compared to this area’s 30%.
Erickson said that historically, D.C.-area traffic fatalities have been lower than national numbers. He attributes that to high-area awareness and available alternatives, such as transit, ride-share, urban density and the Sober Ride Program that’s taken 80,000 would-be drunken drivers off roads.
“So, when we start getting away from that national percentage, I think that is a cause for concern,” Erickson said. “It’s only a 1% difference, but that certainly is something we need to look at.”
