One-third of Minnesota traffic deaths still blamed on booze
The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety has released statistics for 2009, which show that the state's roads keep getting safer even as the share of alcohol-related fatalities remains more or less constant.
As we wrote last week, the number of traffic deaths -- both alcohol-related and not -- have been steadily dropping in Minnesota for years. 421 people died in traffic accidents in the state last year -- the lowest number in thirty years of record-keeping. The number of known alcohol-related deaths, 141, is also a historic low.
The dropping numbers can be credited to a variety of factors, from safer cars and better road infrastructure to changes in driver behavior. But the share of roadway deaths that can be blamed on alcohol -- 34 percent this year -- has been holding pretty steady for 20 years.
Meanwhile, the number of DWI arrests dropped 8 percent last year to 32,756, a statistic that the Office of Traffic safety attributes to fewer police and state patrol officers working the roads.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
