DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The number of drunken driving deaths on Iowa roads has increased, but driver’s license revocations are down.
The Des Moines Register reports (https://dmreg.co/1WA3XJs ) there were 123 drunken driving deaths last year. That’s up from 110 the year before and 114 in 2012.
Last year, 13,938 driver’s licenses were revoked for drunken driving in the state. That number has been steadily declining. In 2014, 14,515 licenses were revoked and in 2012, 17,708 licenses were taken.
The issue was highlighted by a deadly crash in March on Interstate 80 near Waukee when an intoxicated driver going the wrong way slammed into a Des Moines police vehicle at 102 miles an hour. The driver, two Des Moines police officers and a prisoner all died.
“We’re hoping that (the accident) serves as a wake-up call,” said Patrick Hoye, bureau chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau. “The current culture has to change. We’re losing too many lives on Iowa highways to impairment.”
Officials with the state Transportation Department and law enforcement say the decline is a result of having fewer officers on the road because of budget cuts. Also, more people may be getting rides home after drinking.
“We’re hoping that fewer people are driving drunk,” Hoye said. But, he added, “a lot of departments have told us they don’t have the same amount of officers they used to. If there’s less officers out there, that probably means fewer tickets are being written.”
Mary Roche’s husband died 23 years ago in a crash with a drunken driver. Roche said she thinks public attitudes about drunken driving need to change.
“Somehow we believe we have the right to drive if we’re impaired,” said Roche, of Waterloo. “People minimize the effects of their impairment - they think, ’I’m not drunk, I can handle it.’ No, you can’t.”
Later this month, Iowa officials will meet to draft recommendations about what more should be done to deter driving intoxicated.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
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