Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – There was a startling finding in an annual report on the impact of drunk driving on road safety in the D.C. Metro area – the number of deaths from drunk driving in the region increased a whopping 45 percent from 59 in 2016 to 86 in 2017.
During the same time period, the number of injuries, crashes and arrests related to drunk driving decreased according to the “How Safe Are Our Roads?” report put out each year by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Kurt Erickson with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program said it’s not unusual for crashes, injuries and arrests to go down while deaths go up, but what is unusual is for deaths to increase so dramatically.
“So I think we’ve gotta try to figure out what’s going on here,” said Erickson.
The deadliest counties in our area for drunk driving were Montgomery and Prince Georges where the deaths doubled from 2016 to 2017. Loudoun County saw a 75 percent increase.
When it comes to saving lives, Erickson said they have to double down on what works, including sobriety checkpoints and expanding the use of ignition interlock devices, which prevent cars from starting if the driver fails a breathalyzer test.
“Law enforcement agencies in the region are committed to combating one of the rare public health issues that is 100 percent preventable – impaired driving,” said Arlington County Police Chief M. Jay Farr who also chairs COG’s police chiefs committee.
Farr said while there are already many things in place to stop drunk driving, the information from the report is useful to help figure out how police can best combat the problem.
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