Washington among the deadliest states for drunken driving

Washington was rated one of the 15 deadliest states for drunken driving by a national group of physicians working to prevent traffic fatalities.

The Coalition to End Needless Death on Our Roadways’ “Fatal Fifteen” report was released Thursday, just a day before Washington launched its annual drunken driving enforcement emphasis campaign.

Almost half of the traffic deaths in Washington last year were related to drunken driving.

Washington State Patrol troopers and local law enforcement officers will be putting in overtime through Jan. 1 to track down and arrest impaired drivers as part of the “Drive Hammered – Get Nailed” campaign.

Idaho, which avoided the Fatal Fifteen list, starts its annual holiday drunken driving emphasis patrols Dec. 15.

The list targets states where drunken driving deaths account for 41 percent or more of all traffic deaths. In 2005, 45 percent of Washington traffic deaths were related to alcohol. That figure was 32 percent in Idaho.

“It’s a public health crisis. There’s no way around that,” said Lowell Porter, director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

“Having said that, let’s take the number they have and give it some context,” Porter said, explaining that Washington ranks much more favorably when traffic deaths are considered based on the numbers of miles driven.

The state’s fatality rate per 100 million miles driven was 0.48 in 2005, below the national average of 0.51.

Porter said increased emphasis on seat belt laws has helped, but that the traffic safety commission still considers impaired driving its top priority.

“Until we can drive these numbers down to zero, we still have work to do,” he said.

Emphasis patrols are a large part of that effort.

“People knowing that these patrols are out in force – and that there are extra patrols – can make people think twice,” said Kate Carlsen, a commission spokeswoman.

Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo agrees.

At usual staffing levels, “there just aren’t that many of us out there,” he said. “The odds are against us.”

On a day like last Sunday, when there was an abundance of crashes, there aren’t officers available to conduct traffic enforcement. The emphasis patrols later in the month will provide those extra officers.

Longo said continued education and enforcement is essential if Idaho wants to reduce drunken driving.

“We can’t just go through one education push, say we got the word out and forget about it,” he said. “It has to be ongoing.”

Groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving are pushing for more, including increased requirements for ignition interlock devices in vehicles owned by those with DUI convictions. The devices measure blood alcohol and won’t let the car start if the driver has been drinking.

Ignition interlock devices are required in Washington if a first-offense drunken driver has a blood-alcohol level of more than 0.15. A judge has the option of requiring the device if the driver’s blood-alcohol level is less than 0.15 percent on the first offense. The device is required for five years on a second offense no matter what the blood-alcohol level, and for 10 years after the third or any subsequent offense.

In Idaho the devices are required for repeat offenders, said Kevin Bechen, who heads up the Idaho Office of Highway Safety’s impaired driving programs.

Bechen said that program addresses those convicted, and that increased patrols over the holidays may keep people from getting behind the wheel after drinking. “I would like to think that having additional law enforcement officers out when they wouldn’t normally be out is contributing to a reduction in death.”