March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Drunken driving deaths increase by 4 percent> Statistics for 1995 reverse decade-long decline

WASHINGTON — Drunken driving deaths increased last year for the first time in a decade, according to a government report issued Tuesday.

The number of people killed during 1995 in alcohol-related crashes was 17,274 — an increase of 4 percent from 1994, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration days before millions of motorists take to the roads for the long holiday weekend.

The number stands out from the steady decline in alcohol-related traffic deaths during the last decade. The total has declined about 28 percent since the 1986 total of 24,045.

The percentage of alcohol-related deaths compared to the total number of highway accident deaths increased slightly to 41 percent in 1995. It had dropped from 52.2 percent in 1986 to 40.8 percent in 1994.

“This increase should set off an alarm across our country that there is much more to be done in every state and community to stop drinking and driving,” said Katherine Prescott, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The data was released the same day MADD kicked off a national campaign against drinking and driving during the Independence Day holiday. The campaign’s emphasis is on sobriety check points to detect drunken drivers. Police in 39 states operate such checkpoints, the group said.

More than 30 million Americans will take trips this long weekend, the American Automobile Association estimated. The National Safety Council warned that more than 650 people could die on the nation’s highways during this holiday weekend.


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