Utah had the lowest rate of alcohol-related car fatalities in 2005, according to a new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This statistic stands on its own, except that it's dramatically lower in Utah (24 percent). By comparison, Alaska (31percent) and Vermont (33 percent) were its closest competitors. Nearly half of all highway fatalities in Montana, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin and South Carolina were related to drunken driving. Everyone knows that Utah has a large population of nondrinking Mormons. Yet you can get a drink in any medium or large city in the state. Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina, on the other hand, have relatively strict liquor laws. And yet this hasn't reduced their alcohol-related fatalities. Obviously, cultural imperatives--including the don't-drink-and-drive campaigns in America's low-fatality Blue States--have a greater effect on drunken driving than do plain-Jane liquor laws. What Utah begs the rest of the country to consider is whether stricter enforcement and punishment will make a difference where cultural influences fail.
Alcohol-Related Accidents Ask, Better Enforcement at the Bar or at the On-Ramp?
Utah had the lowest rate of alcohol-related car fatalities in 2005, according to a new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This statistic stands on its own, except that it’s dramatically lower in Utah (24 percent). By comparison, Alaska (31percent) and Vermont (33 percent) were its closest competitors. Nearly half of all highway […]
