BY MIKE CETERA
Be careful out there.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released new data demonstrating the increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths over the holidays. It's no surprise, really, but numbers tend to solidify what we already know.
Secretary Peters explained that data released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that from 2001-2005, an average of 36 fatalities occurred per day on America’s roadways as a result of crashes involving an alcohol impaired driver. That number increases to 45 per day during the Christmas period and jumps to 54 per day over the New Year’s holiday, she added.Thirty-eight percent of all traffic fatalities during the Christmas period occurred in crashes involving a drunk driver or motorcycle rider and 41 percent during the New Year’s period, Peters said. This compares with 31 percent for the year as a whole.
Read the analysis here.
Of course, police agencies promise to be extra vigilant during the holidays when it comes to arresting drunk drivers. But we know some departments are more vigilant than others.
In fact, the Aurora Police Department ranks second to last when it comes to the DUI arrest rate per officer among Illinois departments surveyed by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.
In 2005, each Aurora police officer, on average, arrested less than one motorist per year for drunken driving. Only the city of Joliet ranked lower.
Here's some other rankings:
* Carpentersville -- 4.82 arrests per officer
* Naperville -- 4.19 arrests
* St. Charles -- 2.73 arrests
* Oswego -- 2.22 arrests
* Elgin -- 1.76 arrests
In terms of raw numbers, Naperville is the clear winner. Its officers made 717 DUI arrests in 2005. Aurora officers made just 233.
Leave a comment