MWCOG released their annual report on drug and alcohol related fatalities and it does not have good news. After hitting a 7 year low of 59 for the region in 2016, there was a reversion to the mean and it surged back up to 86 in 2017, which is the 2nd worst of the 8 years listed in the report. The drop and subsequent rise were primarily driven by PG County which hit a low of 17 in 2016 and then popped back up to 34 in 2017, but Northern Virginia did it's part as it had a 10 year high of 29.
Alcohol-related traffic arrests are down 8%, and crashes are down 3% even while total crashes are up a trivial amount. Total injuries and alcohol-related injuries are down by 18% an 8% respectively. Total fatalities are up 11%, to 271, for the worst year since 2008.
The data isn't perfect - it never is. For example, they group all the drug and alcohol crashes together, so it's impossible to say how progress is going on the two - but based on what I know about DC, alcohol is the bigger problem. Also, DUI fatalities are under-reported as they don't always test a driver if there is no crime to investigate - such as in a single-car fatality. In addition reporting methods are not standardized across the jurisdictions. What we can say is that drug and alcohol played a role in at least 31% of all traffic fatalities, but likely higher because many are unreported.
If we're going to get to Vision Zero, we're going to have to get a handle on drunk driving.
I once saw a cyclist run a stop sign and nearly hit me even though I was across the street at the time. Therefore, we cannot lay any blame at the feet of drivers. Ever.
Posted by: Crickey | February 04, 2019 at 02:05 PM