Drinking's deadly toll
Hawaii ranks second nationally in alcohol-related road deaths
HAWAII was the deadliest state when it came to traffic fatalities in 2005 involving alcohol use, according to a national traffic safety advocacy group.
End Needless Death on Our Roadways, a group of physicians and other medical professionals, released its "Fatal Fifteen" list of states in which at least 41 percent of the traffic fatalities in 2005 were alcohol-related. The list is based on data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
FATAL FIFTEEN
The top 15 areas cited by End Needless Death on Our Roadways for high percentages of alcohol-related fatal accidents, based on data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
Washington, D.C., 54.17 percent
Hawaii, 50.71 percent
Rhode Island, 49.43 percent
Montana, 49.40 percent
Delaware, 49.25 percent
Alaska, 48.61 percent
North Dakota, 47.15 percent
Washington, 45.44 percent
Wisconsin, 45.28 percent
Texas, 44.78 percent
Connecticut, 43.80 percent
South Dakota, 43.01 percent
Illinois, 42.62 percent
South Carolina, 42.45 percent
Arizona, 41.80 percent
Source: End Needless Death on Our Roadways
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The District of Columbia had the highest percentage at 54 percent. Hawaii came in second but was the highest state with 51 percent. This is the third year in a row Hawaii made the list.
Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware and Alaska followed with 49 percent. Utah was the lowest at 13 percent. The national average is 39 percent.
"Being considered second deadliest in the country is unacceptable," said Connie Abram, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Hawaii chapter.
MADD launched its national "Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving" last week and distributed red ribbons to remind people to drive safely.
In 2005 there were 140 traffic fatalities on Hawaii roadways. According to the NHTSA, 71 were alcohol-related.
The NHTSA statistics are based on information provided by the individual states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For Hawaii the data was provided by the county police departments through the state Department of Transportation.
State transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the state reported only 67 of the 140 traffic fatalities in 2005 were alcohol-related, for 48 percent.
The discrepancy between the state and NHTSA figures is because the federal agency classifies alcohol-related traffic fatalities differently from the state, Ishikawa said.
"The numbers are still frustrating because we poured in a lot of money on media advertising and DUI enforcement last year," Ishikawa said.
STAR-BULLETIN
A police officer works the scene of a fatal accident on the H-1 freeway. According to the group End Needless Death on Our Roadways, more than 50 percent of Hawaii's traffic fatalities in 2005 were alcohol-related.
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The state distributed $466,000 from federal grants to the four county police departments for DUI enforcement and spent more than $500,000 last year for DUI enforcement media advertising, he said.
The NHTSA considers motor vehicle crashes to be alcohol-related if at least one driver or nonoccupant, such as a pedestrian or bicyclist, involved in the crash has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.01 or higher. The legal threshold for driving is 0.08.
In Hawaii each county has its own definition for what constitutes an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash.
On Oahu the Honolulu Police Department considers a crash alcohol-related if the driver's blood alcohol concentration is higher than 0.05 percent, said Lt. Gordon Shiraishi, of HPD's Traffic Division, 0.02 percent if the driver is under 21 years old. But he said it depends on the circumstances. And the department does not consider a pedestrian's blood alcohol concentration, Shiraishi said.
END's Fatal Fifteen does not take into consideration the number of fatalities compared with a state's population. So even if the number of fatalities is low per capita, a state can still make the list if the percentage of those fatalities are alcohol-related, said John Pastuovic, END executive director.
"What we're trying to say is, to lower the overall number of traffic fatalities, we need to address the alcohol involved."
CORRECTION
Saturday, December 2, 2006
» The state distributed $466,000 from federal grants to the four county police departments for drunken-driving law enforcement. A Page A1 story in yesterday's morning edition incorrectly said the state distributed $200,000.
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