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Alcohol-related fatalities dropping
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Related Topics: Fairfax County
Fairfax County (Map, News) - Alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped by more than 24 percent across Northern Virginia in 2005 with all but one of five jurisdictions showing dramatic drops, according to a new report released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Fairfax County recorded 15 fatalities last year in crashes where the driver had a blood-alcohol level above .08 — the legal limit for operating a vehicle — down 21.1 percent from 19 deaths in 2004, according to the study. Prince William had seven fatalities in 2005, down 22.2 percent from nine in 2004. Loudoun saw a 50 percent drop from 2004, down from six that year to three in 2005. Alexandria did not have any alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2005, down from two in 2004, according to the study.
Arlington County saw a 200 percent increase with three deaths in 2005, up from one in 2004.
Suburban Maryland has also seen drunk driving deaths plummet, including a 71.9 percent decrease in Montgomery County and a 27.5 decrease in Prince George’s County.
The study was released as the NHTSA kicks off an unprecedented $11 million national informational campaign aimed at stemming drunken driving. The ads, which began running on television, radio and the Internet on Wednesday night, are aimed at the biggest offenders — men between 21 and 34 years old. The demographic is involved in nearly 33 percent of all alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Of the 28 drunken drivers involved in accidents across Northern Virginia last year, 15 fit into the 21 to 34 age group, which was nearly 20 percent higher than the national average, according to the study. Five of seven fatal alcohol-related accidents in Prince William County involved drunken drivers in that demographic.
Former Fairfax County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, now chief of the Montgomery County Police department, said it is difficult to gauge where the problems lie. Manger said he does not see a trend in which drunk driving is most prevalent in a particular geographic area. Rather, he says, arrests are made in most urban and rural areas.
“Trust me, if we saw a trend we move on it,” Manger said. “It seems the problem does not discriminate.”
mrupert@dcexaminer.com
