Dallas, K.C. Rank Highest in DUI Deaths

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Dallas, K.C. Rank Highest in DUI Deaths
1/16/2002

A new study shows that Dallas, Texas and Kansas City, Mo., had the highest rates of drunk-driving fatalities in the United States between 1995 and 2003, the Kansas City Star reported Jan. 14.

The survey by researcher Deborah A. Cohen of Rand Corp. examined federal crash statistics in 97 cities that submit data each year to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to Cohen, over the three years studied, Dallas had 10.23 alcohol-related traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents; Kansas City had a DUI death rate of 10.1 per 100,000 residents. Both cities ranked more than twice as high as the national mean of 4.75.

Cohen said that strict penalties and random sobriety checkpoints were among the most effective ways that cities and states could reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths.

"I'm shocked," said Lela McDuffy, president of the Heartland Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "I realize that we were probably the worst in Missouri, but I had no clue that we were that high on the list nationwide."

In the 1990s, Kansas City had more DUI incidents each year than St. Louis and Springfield combined. In 1999, Kansas City led the state in the rate of alcohol-related accidents, repeat alcohol offenders, and drivers with 10 or more drunken-driving convictions.

Kansas City officials expect drunken-driving numbers to decline with the state's lower blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent, which went into effect last fall.

The study is published in the February issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.

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