Study: Midwest has the worst drunken driving rates

[shain from kane]

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/318508.html

WASHINGTON --The upper Midwest has the worst drunken driving rates in the country, according to a government report that says 15 percent of adult drivers nationally report driving under the influence of alcohol in the previous year.

Wisconsin leads the way. The federal government estimates more than a quarter of the state's adult drivers had driven under the influence. Rounding out the worst five are North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Utah had the lowest incidence of drunken driving. It was the only state where fewer than 10 percent of adult motorists reported driving under the influence. Following closely behind were a slew of Southern states that often fare poorly when it comes to government health statistics. This time, however, they're serving as models. West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky and North Carolina all had drunken driving rates for the prior year of less than 11 percent.

The report on drunken driving relies on data obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey, based on a scientific random sample of households, asked 127,283 adults in 2004, 2005 and 2006 whether they had driven under the influence in the past year. Health experts say the state-by-state breakdowns support other surveys showing that residents in northern states are more likely to engage in heavy alcohol consumption.
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Eric Goplerud, research professor at George Washington University Medical Center, said cultural and demographic issues probably have a role in the higher rates of driving under the influence in certain states. He said that religious affiliations in the Southeast often strongly discourage drinking, but that doesn't occur so much in the upper Midwest.

"A good part of the social life is around drinking," said Goplerud, who is also director of Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, which call for increased access to treatment programs.

Also, blacks drink at substantially lower rates and at less hazardous rates than whites, he said. The populations in those states are heavily white.
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Jeffrey Ratliff-Crain, associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota-Morris, noted that the Minnesota Legislature is considering a bill that would let bars stay open until 4 a.m. during the Republican National Convention, pouring more money into the economy.
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[maxsolomon]

1. legalize it

people drive S L O W E R when high. :smoke: :evilgrin:

[varkam]

3. The OP has nothing to do with marijuana. eom

[shain from kane]

4. Here's the paragraphs on under the influence of drugs. Rhode Island in 2nd place?

"The federal government also released estimates of driving under the influence of illicit drugs. The rates were highest in the District of Columbia, 7 percent; Rhode Island, 6.8 percent; and Massachusetts, 6.4 percent.

The states with the lowest rates for driving under the influence of illicit drugs within the past year were New Jersey, 3.2 percent; Alabama, 3.4 percent; and North Dakota and South Dakota, 3.5 percent."

[maxsolomon]

6. illicit drugs is a large category

crack, meth, heroin, dope. big differences.

[maxsolomon]

5. ummm... are you high?

my contention is that legalized marijuana would likely lower drunken driving rates. i have no research to back that up.

[femrap]

9. Sure do! nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. You want people doing 20 on the freeway?

And then slowing down to dial the phone?

Mayhem!!!

[Fumesucker]

17. But think of how much gas that would save..

Chong: How am I driving, man?

Cheech: I think we're parked, man.

[Bluzmann57]

2. It's because of winter

They are sooooooooo long here in the upper Midwest, especially the states listed. What else is there to do in winter? Of course, once it warms up, people have to start celebrating. Wait, that sounds like rationalizing. So never mind.
I do not condone driving under the influence! Please use a designated driver, call a cab, walk, stay home, just don't drive.

[femrap]

10. And they have to drive farther distances

to bars....everything is very spread out...

[Fumesucker]

7. People lie.. Even on anonymous surveys..

The report on drunken driving relies on data obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey, based on a scientific random sample of households, asked 127,283 adults in 2004, 2005 and 2006 whether they had driven under the influence in the past year.

As the old joke goes:

Jews don't recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah

Protestants don't recognize the Pope as their spiritual leader.

Baptists don't recognize each other in the liquor store.


The states with the lowest self reported drunk driving stats are those with the highest proportion of fundies, that leads me to think that the fundies are probably lying.

[dmallind]

8. Now factor in self-reporting of a taboo inflation too.

These numbers are woefully low. Remember that for the last 20 years we have made driving after a beer or two on a par with child molestation. We have punishments far in excess of any other offense based on similar risk. We have public announcements and political grandstanding and scare stories and well funded lobby groups and twisted statistics and STILL these numbers of people report that they have engaged in these activities.

I'd be surprised if the real rate was not twice this. Consider that few people outside core cities can walk to a bar because of decades of zoning restrictions that mean the neighborhood pubs of say England, with its higher drinking rate but much lower drunk driving rate, are impossible for a huge ratio of our population. Consider that 65% or so (I forget the exact number - it's in the 60s) drink. Imagine how few people have convenient access to public transport at the time most people socialize at bars etc, and how expensive cabs are and again outside core downtowns very rare.

Sure some people have designated drivers etc, and some (me included until recently) do manage to live close enough to walk. But I've not seen too many bar parking lots empty and I don't see an awful lot of people drinking cokes all night either.

Further reasons to doubt these estimates are arrest rates. MN for example convicts 1.4% of its drivers EVERY YEAR of DUI. Now the driving years of a normal person over drinking age are probably 50-60 years so unless after a couple of years or so ALL those arrests become repeat offenders, which of course is silly, then you quickly run into a number greater than the percent who admit committing the crime being caught and convicted of it. Since the ratio of "drunk" drivers to DUI convicts is definitely not 1 to 1, and many are never arrested, this again tells us we are seeing low numbers here. If every "drunk" driver was always caught, there'd be a lot fewer people who choose to do it. The detection rate is quite low in reality, and MADD agrees with me here.

[Fumesucker]

11. Eighty percent drink according to this website..

http://www.alcoholstats.com/page.aspx?id=138

[dmallind]

12. delete dupe

[dmallind]

13. delete dupe

[dmallind]

14. Good lord really?

I'm not saying 80 is wrong, but it's higher than I recall. Just makes the main point that this is underreported even more likely of course!

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out and try to find my cite too.

[Fumesucker]

16. It wouldn't surprise me

If 80% were fairly close to correct, maybe a bit high..

I don't really care much for alcohol and drink rarely, but I do drink.

My internal stream-of-consciousness dialog is very sarcastic and biting, I self censor a lot and when I drink my censoring goes to crap..

Basically I can easily become a (much bigger) jerk when buzzed on alcohol.