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List of Drunkest Cities in America Released
Rankings based on a number of factors including incidents of DUI
Men's Health Magazine has released its ranking of "America's Drunkest Cities". The study took into account a number of factors, such as incidents of car crashes attributable to alcohol, the number of arrests for driving under the influence and the death rates from alcoholic liver disease.
Fresno, California was ranked the drunkest city for the year. Rounding out the top five positions are Reno, Nevada; Billings, Montana; Riverside, California and Austin, Texas. The least drunk city, coming in at the 100 position, is Boston, Massachusetts.
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Sturgis Rally Sees Rise in Arrests for DUI in South Dakota
Drunk driving incidents up at this year’s motorcycle rally.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol has announced that the number of overall arrests for driving under the influence was up at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Through Saturday there were 316 SD DUI arrests, compared to 253 in 2008. The rally, held in the Black Hills, ended Friday though the official window for DUI statistics runs longer because many bikers arrive early and stay through the weekend.
There were 72 accidents involving injury, compared to 60 last year. While drunk driving in South Dakota arrests were up this year, the number of drug arrests dropped from 232 to 199.
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Delaware Strengthens DUI Laws
Penalties increase for drunk driving in Delaware.
Effective today, those stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence in Delaware will be facing twice the fines, and repeat offenders could be sentenced to jail for up to 15 years.
Gov. Jack Markell signed into law legislation calling for an increase in fines for first offense DE DUI from $230 to $500, with repeat offenders subject to $15,000 fines. The potential jail sentence for repeat offenders was tripled, to a maximum of 15 years. With a blood alcohol content of .15% or higher both first time and repeat offenders will have their driver’s licenses suspended for six months and be required to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicles.
On average, 7000 arrests for DUI in Delaware are made each year. 30 percent are repeat offenders.
The sponsor of the law hopes that the new penalties help stop drunk driving in Delaware by making it easier to incarcerate repeat offenders and keep them off the road. It was also hoped that future legislation will make ignition interlock devices mandatory for everyone convicted of Delaware DUI.
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Kansas Cuts DUI Program Funds
Treatment of repeat offenders of drunk driving in Kansas will be limited.
The funds used to treat repeat offenders for driving under the influence in Kansas have been cut by 70% by state legislators. Last the past fiscal year the state spent approximately $1.2 million to treat drivers convicted of their fourth KS DUI. The funds have been slashed to $416,000, according to the director of addiction and prevention services for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
Because the number of people requiring treatment will likely not change, there will probably be a reduction in the treatment period from twelve months to three. Professionals working with addiction say that the length of engagement is critical for effectiveness, and that a shortening of the programs could cause a rise in recidivism.
The decision to cut the funds comes after the passage of a new law requiring those with a third DUI conviction, rather than the fourth, to enter an alcohol treatment program. That is expected to add as many as 200 people to the rolls of those under treatment. Participants in the program may be required to pay some of the expenses. State lawmakers and officials hope local resources can fill in the gaps.
Treatment professionals, corrections officials and a few lawmakers hope that public safety concerns will help resurrect the funds and thus the DUI treatment programs. The issue could become one of the focuses of a new Kansas DUI commission established to review the state’s drunk driving laws.
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Texting More Dangerous Than DUI
Study shows texting while driving adversely impacts reaction times.
A study conducted by ‘Car and Driver’ shows that texting while driving is significantly more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol drugs. Drivers texting messages are 3-4 times slower than drunk drivers to apply brakes to avoid a collision.
Previous studies conducted in vehicle simulators have shown that texting impairs a driver’s skills. Car and Driver decided to conduct a study in actual vehicles and directly compare reaction times of those texting with those under the influence of alcohol. Using an airfield taxiway, drivers were required to react to a light mounted at eye-level on the windshield, simulating brake lights of an advance vehicle. Vehicle speed, brake pedal position and steering angle were all monitored, and baselines for the test were established. Data was collected as drivers responded to the dash light five times, with the slowest reaction time being dropped. First the drivers performed the test while texting. They then consumed alcohol until their blood alcohol content registered .08%, the legal limit for intoxication in most states, and repeated the test without cell phones.
In one set of results, a driver’s response time while texting nearly tripled his baseline response. The extra reaction time while impaired was only .04 second more than his baseline. At 70 miles per hour, the subject’s vehicle traveled an additional 319 feet while texting, and 17 extra feet while impaired by alcohol.
One national insurance provider estimates that 20% of drivers regularly send text messages or emails while driving.
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Group Questions the Cost of DUI Checkpoints
Sobriety checkpoints challenged as a waste of tax dollars.
The holidays are a time of year when law enforcement agencies increasingly target drunk drivers. In keeping with that effort, the federal government, along with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, launched a new anti-DUI campaign this week. During a joint news conference, it was stated that one in four fatal automobile accidents occur during the last two weeks of December and that DUI checkpoints were a way of changing that statistic.
The American Beverage Institute has questioned that tactic, saying there are much more effective tools for fighting incidents of driving under the influence. The spokesperson for ABI said that sobriety checkpoints, often paid for with tax dollars distributed through federal grants, are more of a public relations campaign than a truly effective mechanism to catch drunk drivers. The cost of setting up a checkpoint and paying police officers over-time pay can run many thousands of dollars. The ABI goes on to point out that usually checkpoint locations are highly publicized, meaning chronic abusers avoid the area and the police then target socially responsible drinkers who are driving with a blood alcohol content below the legal limit. The actual numbers of DUI arrests from sobriety checkpoints are generally very low. One recent news article from Florida cited 696 motorists being checked or
detained with only one DUI arrest. Many net no arrests.
ABI advocates the more responsible and less expensive approach of conducting roving saturation patrols. That tactic focuses equipment and manpower in high-DUI areas, and offers the flexibility to react to traffic and field conditions. The officers are trained to identify signs of potential impairment in motorists.
Many law enforcement agencies agree with the increased effectiveness of roving patrols, but still conduct sobriety checkpoints because of available federal funds.
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DWI Advocates Denounce New Video Game
Grand Theft Auto IV contains drunk driving scene.
The recently released video game Grand Theft Auto IV is coming under fire from anti-DWI organizations for a controversial drunk driving scene. One game mission has a character getting drunk in a bar and then having the option of getting in a cab or driving drunk. A spokesperson for StopDWI in Midland Texas said “Driving while intoxicated is not a game, it is a crime.” Mother Against Drunk Driving is requesting a change in the game’s rating, from mature to adult only.
Defenders of the game claim the scene identifies the character as drunk and it shows the dangers of drinking and driving. The video has a vehicle crash and an arrest for DWI as possible outcomes. Officials for Rockstar Game, the company that manufactures Grand Theft Auto IV, said the game should not be taken seriously, and indicated that drug and alcohol use are clearly stated in the game description.
MADD is asking Rockstar Game and a game rating board to show social responsibility as well as respect for the millions of victims of drunk drivers.
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Sober Drivers Getting Falsely Arrested for DUI
Aggressive police tactics lead to increase in innocent motorists being charged with drunk driving.
There has been an increase in the numbers of sober drivers being falsely charged with driving under the influence across the United States. Despite laws that establish a blood alcohol content for intoxication at .08%, law enforcement agencies in several states, Ohio in particular, have adopted a zero tolerance position on alcohol. Both Maryland and the District of Columbia have criminal drunk driving penalties for motorists with a BAC under the legal limit. Drunk driving is a serious issue though the effort to make the streets safer has lead to many innocent drivers being caught up in a legal nightmare.
A man from Corvallis, Oregon is one such case. Brian Noakes was charged with suspicion of Oregon DUII after a traffic stop for having bloodshot eyes. He explained that he had a cold though the police officer was convinced that he was driving under the influence. While being arrested, Noakes wife asked what was happening and police threatened to Taser her. A breath test showed that Noakes had no alcohol in his system and a urine test came back negative for drugs. The district attorney declined to prosecute the case though Noakes will continue to have a permanent arrest record for drunk driving.
Washington, like several other states, does not allow arrests for traffic offenses, including driving under the influence, to be removed or expunged from a person’s record. That means that even if a defendant is found innocent or never formally charged, he or she could suffer the consequences of a false arrest for the rest of their life. Noakes’ arrest, in fact, cost him his job.
Noakes is suing the city of Corvallis and David Cox, the arresting police officer, for violation of his civil rights and false arrest. He also wants an unspecified amount of money for reimbursement of legal fees and damages. An internal police investigation found that the arrest was unlawful and the threats were improper. It was also determined that Cox had a known pattern of unjustified DUI arrests of motorists who were not legally intoxicated. Those arrests helped earn Cox praise for being one of the top DUI enforcers. He has since resigned from the force and left the state.
The pattern of false arrests for suspicion of driving while intoxicated is not limited to one state or one jurisdiction. More than 150 arrests for drunk driving in Cook County - Chicago were dismissed after a single officer was indicted for felony perjury for falsifying arrest reports. A motorist was accused of Arizona DWI because of what the officer described as slurred speech, when the defendant had actually just had denture work performed. A blood test showed a BAC of .22. Even without evidence of intoxication, the prosecutor filed three felony charges and the defendant eventually spent $12,000 in legal fees to defend herself.
Last year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with input from the American Beverage Institute, updated its anti-drunk driving slogan to ‘Over the limit. Under arrest’ in effort to acknowledge that one can engage in responsible social drinking and legally drive after. Texas however clings to the old slogan ‘Drink. Drive. Go to Jail.’, leading an Austin DWI attorney to note that a percentage of his clients were not legally drunk at the time of their arrest.
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Intense DUI Checks Planned in Colorado
Colorado Law enforcement to be out in force on weekend traditionally known for Christmas office parties.
The Colorado State Patrol and law enforcement agencies across the state are gearing up for an effort to stop drunk drivers this coming weekend. Dubbed ‘Office Party Weekend’, DUI enforcement patrols will be out in force between 6 p.m. Friday, December 14 and 3 a.m. Monday, December 17.
With the notice of a drunk driving crackdown, law enforcement is hoping motorists plan in advance for safe driving alternatives, like assigning a designated driver and using a taxi service or public transportation. They also encourage party hosts to have plans to get friends and co-workers home safely. In Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation, local businesses and law enforcement agencies are offering vouchers to party goers to reduce the cost of taking a cab this weekend.
Last year’s three day ‘Office Party Weekend’ DUI patrol resulted in 475 arrests for drunk driving. Law enforcement agencies are also planning a ‘Heat Is On!’ Campaign during New Year celebrations.
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Doctor Who Performed Surgery on Kanye West’s Mom Has DUI History
Dr. Jan Adams charged with drunk driving twice.
Dr. Jan Adams, the doctor who performed cosmetic surgery on Kanye West’s mother, has a history of drunk driving arrests. Earlier in the year, the Medical Board of California filed for revocation or suspension of his license over his ‘multiple’ DUI cases.
An ex-girlfriend said Adams has “an unfortunate drinking problem” and a 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' personality when intoxicated. Adams entered a ‘no contest’ plea to 2003 DUI arrest and he was found guilty in 2006 for driving with a blood-alcohol content above the legal limit.
Dr. Adams performed a breast reduction and tummy tuck on Kanye West’s mom, Donda, last weekend. Even though the surgery reportedly lasted twice as long as normal, Donda was sent home without post-op supervision and she died. An autopsy was performed though the results will not be finalized for 6-8 weeks. Adams insists that he did nothing wrong. Another plastic surgeon refused to perform surgery on Donda, citing a preexisting condition that could cause a heart attack. In 2001 Adams settled two malpractice suits and he has several other cases pending.
Adams hosted Discovery Channel’s “Plastic Surgery: Before and After” and was co-host of ABC’s “The Other Half.”
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