Montana Named Worst State for Drunk Driving

Recent reports have named Montana as the most dangerous state for drunk driving. In 2007, the state of Montana reported 106 alcohol related fatalities, which is an average of 11.1 drunk driving deaths for every 100,000 people. This number has shown a slight increase since 2006, where an average 10.9 driving under the influence deaths were reported for every 100,000 people.

Jim Lynch, director of Montana's Department of Transportation provided several reasons for Montana's high level of DUI fatalities, stating, "Eighty percent of travel in Montana is on rural roads. So most crashes involve speeds in excess of 55 miles per hour. A more urban state like Massachusetts has less than 6% of its drivers on rural roads- the majority of its traffic is in urban environments at slow speeds. We also have much longer emergency response times because of the distance; the average response time in Massachusetts is about 20 minutes, while in Montana it's an hour and 20 minutes. So an accident in Montana is far more likely to be life threatening."

South Carolina was determined to be the state with the second highest number of drunk driving fatalities, with an average of 10.5 alcohol related deaths per 100,000 people. Mississippi, Wyoming, and Louisiana rounded out the top five, with 10.35, 9.37, and 8.57 fatalities per 100,000 people, respectively.

Wyoming's status as a "bridge" for travelers could be a possible contributing factor for the high number of traffic fatalities. Additionally, Wyoming is one of ten states that has determined sobriety checkpoints to be unconstitutional, despite a United States Supreme Court ruling in 1990 that stated otherwise.

In order to determine which states had the highest drunk driving death tolls, researchers reviewed the drunk driving fatality data for 2007 compiled in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System, which is released by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, a division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Researchers then multiplied the data by 100,000 and divided the result by the census population estimates for 2007 to determine their final numbers.

In response to the reported statistics, spokeswoman for the National Highway Transit Safety Administration, Ellen Martin, stated, "Alcohol related vehicle accident numbers have not been tilting downward over the last decade. We're hopeful that we may see a downward trend, but police are dealing with more and more hardcore drinkers as years go by."

Please take some time to visit our websites:
San Francisco DUI Attorney
San Mateo DUI Lawyer
Marin County DUI Defense
Northern California DUI Defense Lawyers
San Francisco County DUI Defense Lawyers