Drunken driving fatalities increase statewide

Drunken driving fatalities increased in Nevada last year along with 21 other states, federal transportation officials said Monday.

Nevadans experienced seven more drunken driving fatalities last year than in 2005, for a 5.2 percent increase. Utah featured the biggest surge of DUI fatalities with a 63.6 percent increase, District of Columbia the biggest drop with 36.8 percent fewer deaths.

The national average for drunken driving fatalities was down 0.8 percent. While both states were down in the number of fatalities, California and Texas led the U.S. in 2006 with 1,276 and 1,354 drunken driving fatalities respectively.

Nevada had 432 fatalities according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, 186 of them alcohol related. Of those 142 were in accidents where at least one motorist had a BAC of 0.08 or higher.

In Carson City, local NHP officers are participating as transportation officials kick-off an $11 million nationwide advertising campaign as part of a Labor Day weekend effort: "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest."

"That's kind of our message too," said NHP public relations officer Chuck Allen. "All the national advertisements have already started to run. Our whole focus is if we can create awareness and education leading up to Labor Day weekend, we'll be in better shape."

A recent study conducted by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety shows fatalities caused by those driving under the influence in Nevada have increased more than 36 percent in the past five years.

In 2001, there were 313 DUI-related fatalities statewide. That number jumped to 427 by 2005.

"The hard-core, high BAC driver continues to be a major problem in Nevada," the study said.

In an attempt to curb the number of drivers taking to the roads in an impaired state, NHP is bolstering its staff over the remaining summer weekends.

"We've allocated a number of overtime shifts for officers with grant funding from the Nevada Department of Safety," Allen said. "With their assistance, we're able to staff a number of shifts where NHP can look specifically for impaired drivers."

While Allen was unsure whether DUI checkpoints would be established over the upcoming weekends, he did assure additional enforcement will make its presence felt.

"For the two-week period surrounding Labor Day, it's all going to be saturation patrols," he said. "We have found over the years that saturation patrols are effective; manpower is spread out over the main roads."

Since 2000, alcohol is a factor in 27 percent of Nevada's crash costs. Alcohol-related crashes in Nevada cost the public an estimated $1.1 billion annually, a 2006 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study showed.

NHP officials said one of its best weapons against impaired drivers is other motorists.

"We solicit all the calls from motorists who call in when they see a suspicious driver," Allen said. "When we talk about impairment, the first thing we think of is alcohol " in the enforcement business, we see a number of impaired drivers: those who are taking prescription meds, using illegal drugs, diabetics who let their blood sugar down or, one that's very common on rural roads. those impaired by falling asleep."

But alcohol continues to be the main cause of impaired-driver accidents and injuries he said.

The overall number of deaths involving drivers and motorcycle operators with any amount of alcohol in their blood was 17,602 last year. That was up from 17,590 in 2005, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokeswoman Heather Ann Hopkins.