Dallas, K.C. Rank Highest in DUI Deaths
From: Join Together 1/16/2002
A new study shows that Dallas, Texas and Kansas City, Mo., had the
highest rates of drunk-driving fatalities in the United States between
1995 and 1997, the Kansas City Star reported Jan. 14.
The survey by researcher Deborah A. Cohen of Rand Corp. examined
federal crash statistics in 97 cities that submit data each year to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to Cohen, over
the three years studied, Dallas had 10.23 alcohol-related traffic
fatalities per 100,000 residents; Kansas City had a DUI death rate of
10.1 per 100,000 residents. Both cities ranked more than twice as high as
the national mean of 4.75.
Cohen said that strict penalties and random sobriety checkpoints were
among the most effective ways that cities and states could reduce
alcohol-related traffic deaths.
“I’m shocked,” said Lela McDuffy, president of the Heartland Chapter
of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “I realize that we were probably the
worst in Missouri, but I had no clue that we were that high on the list
nationwide.”
