L.A.
County deadliest in DUI accidents
By
Catherine Chen
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
According to the California Highway Patrol’s statistics for 2001-04,
Los Angeles County has the highest number of persons killed and injured in
alcohol-related collisions in California. It also has the most DUI arrests
among the 57 other counties in the state.
California had over 180,000 DUI arrests in 2004, with almost 38,000 from L.A.
County. Of the roughly 90,000 people injured and 750 killed in motor vehicle
crashes in L.A. County, almost 8,000 were injured and about 300 were killed
in alcohol-related collisions. Nationally, California has had the most fatalities
in these types of accidents.
Many state officials believe L.A. County’s large population is the main
cause of its towering figures.
“
We’re the largest county in the country [at] 10 million [people],” said
Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s Department.
While the statistics have been steady for the past few years, Whitmore said
the number of alcohol-related collisions and DUI
arrests is considerably lower compared to the data of the 1980s and 1990s.
“
I suspect that there is some relationship to the higher number of vehicles
per miles of roadway,” said David Roseman, City
Traffic engineer of Long Beach. “Essentially, we have more people in
vehicles driving around in a limited area so there is a greater chance that
an impaired driver would run into someone or something.”
According to Mike Marando, public affairs officer of the Office of Traffic
Safety (OTS), the OTS is working hard to reduce the
number of DUI-related accidents, including the expansion of the “Avoid” anti-DUI
programs throughout California and continuing to fund statewide programs that
educate middle and high school students of the dangers of drinking and driving.
The OTS is working with the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish four
more DUI-only courts in California that focus on effective treatment to help
drivers overcome an alcohol problem.
The OTS also plans to increase sobriety checkpoints.
“
Los Angeles police agencies benefited from more than $4.8 million awarded to
183 agencies statewide in 2005 for additional checkpoints throughout 2006,” Marando
said. “Checkpoints have shown to curb the incidence of DUI in communities
that use them on a regular basis.”
“
California’s 2004 Alcohol Fatality Rate (AFR) — alcohol-involved
fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled — is 0.5, much better
than the national AFR of .057,” Marando”said. “Only 16 states
have a better AFR than California. Of the five most populated states, California
has the lowest AFR.”
“
In Long Beach, the number of DUI-related traffic collisions is clearly decreasing,
from 553 in 2001, 458 in 2002, 469 in 2003, and 368 in 2004,”said Sergeant
Hans Kohnlein of the Long Beach Police Department’s Accident Investigation
Detail.’
While Kohnlein said hiring more officers would definitely improve the number
of DUIs in Long Beach, he pointed out the other things the police department
has been doing.
“
DUI checkpoints, and once in a while, a special task force of officers assigned
to seek out DUI drivers. Education seems to be the key,””he said.
Marando said DUI fatalities and injuries are not accidents.
“
Each and every DUI-related collision is 100 percent preventable because in
every case someone made a choice to drink and drive,” Murando said.
He said DUIs are typically more common among males 21 to 34 years of age, although
in 2004, males age 19 to 25 comprised of roughly 26 percent of total deaths
and injuries among drinking drivers in fatal and injury collisions in California.
In 2004, 29 percent of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who were killed in motor
vehicle crashes had been drinking, according to data from the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“
I think that minors find alcohol appealing because it’s illegal,” said
Jenna Puente, a freshman illustration major. “They might drink a lot
and think they can handle it, and make the mistake of driving afterwards.”
“
All motorists must be aware and drive defensively. Don’t become distracted
when driving and don’t assume that the other driver is paying attention.
In Long Beach alone we had over 2,250 people injured in vehicle accidents last
year,” Roseman said. “Take the driving task seriously and don’t
become a statistic.”
Marando advises drivers to never drink and drive and to always wear a seatbelt.
“
The two seconds it takes to fasten a seatbelt is the simplest act anyone can
do to potentially save a life,” he said.
He also reminds people to always designate a non-drinking driver who has committed
beforehand not to imbibe.
“
I usually end up as [the designated driver] at most parties.” said Megan
Drewen, a freshman graphic design and accountancy major. “I don’t
like to drink and it’s fun to watch a bunch of drunken people,”
According to the NHTSA, a motor vehicle crash is considered to be alcohol-related
if a driver, pedestrian or cyclist involved in the crash is determined to have
had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .01 gram per deciliter (g/dL) or higher.
In California, it is illegal to operate a vehicle with BAC over .08. A driver
with BAC less than .08 or under the influence of other drugs will also be arrested
for a DUI. A DUI penalty costs about $5,200 and about $2,000 more if the driver
uses an attorney.
More than half of all alcohol-involved accidents the drivers had BAC higher
than twice the legal limit in most states and an average of one person was
injured in an alcohol-involved crash approximately every two minutes, according
to the CHP’s national 2004 crash statistics.
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