High rate of drunken-driving deaths another mark against KC

We Remember, Inc.

Posted on Mon, Jan. 14, 2002
High rate of drunken-driving deaths another mark against KC

By SHASHANK BENGALI
The Kansas City Star

Throughout the 1990s, Kansas City was Missouri's drunken-driving capital, with more alcohol-related accidents each year than St. Louis and Springfield combined.

Now, a new study adds another layer to that dubious distinction.

Kansas City had the nation's second-highest rate of drunken-driving fatalities between 1995 and 1997, according to a study published in the February issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.

"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."

Rand Corp. researcher Deborah A. Cohen analyzed federal crash statistics in 97 cities that submit data each year to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The rates for the three-year period were totaled; the study was funded by the national Substance Abuse Policy Research Program.

Over the three years studied, Cohen's researchers found that Kansas City had a total of 10.1 alcohol-related traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents, second only to Dallas, which had 10.23. Both cities' rates were more than twice as high as the national mean, 4.75.

St. Louis was seventh-highest on the list; Lincoln, Neb., had the lowest rate in the nation, 0.86.

Experts were surprised at the results, but said Kansas City and Missouri in recent years had made progress in the fight against drunken driving.

Most pointed to the state's new, lower blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent, which went into effect in the fall. Although it is too early to gauge the law's effect, the Kansas City Police Department expects to make 10 to 20 percent more DUI arrests in the long run.
"The change is welcome," McDuffy said. "But we have to do more."
The numbers of alcohol-related crashes fell steadily in Kansas City during much of the 1990s, mirroring a national trend. In 2000, out of 62 fatal crashes in Kansas City, 14 -- or 22.6 percent -- were alcohol-related.
In 1999, The Kansas City Star reported that Kansas City consistently led the state in the numbers of alcohol-related accidents, repeat alcohol offenders and drivers with 10 or more drunken-driving convictions.
The Star cited Kansas City's sprawl as well as insufficient penalties for offenders as two factors contributing to the problem.
Following that report, Mayor Kay Barnes appointed a task force that made a series of recommendations, including probation for first-time offenders and seizing the vehicles of repeat offenders. But neither of those recommendations has become law.
Calvin Williford, who was chairman of that task force, said stiffer penalties must be a priority.
"Kansas City has done a very good job in identifying problem drivers, people who exercise poor judgment by getting behind the wheel of their car after drinking," said Williford, a former vice president of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
"But I'm personally disappointed that we haven't seen some of the recommendations in terms of law enforcement take hold."
The Rand researcher's study concluded that strict penalties and random sobriety checkpoints were among the most important ways that cities and states could reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Kansas City police said the department is using grant money from the Missouri Division of Highway Safety to increase the frequency of educational programs and sobriety checkpoints around the city. Currently, the department runs checkpoints on about 22 dates a year.

Because of fiscal constraints, the Kansas City Police Department's DUI unit has four officers, even though it is budgeted for six. Those officers deal mostly with suspected drunken drivers arrested by other officers. That allows arresting officers to return to regular patrols, but it doesn't leave the DUI unit much time.
"The more manpower you have, the more you can do in terms of being pro-active," Kansas City Police Sgt. Randy Sims said of the DUI unit. "Right now, they're mostly just reacting."
The state office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving has formed a public-policy committee to work toward alcohol-related legislation during the current session of the Missouri General Assembly.
In past years, efforts to pass a one-cent tax on beer purchases have been stifled by the alcohol and restaurant lobbies. The study shows that Missouri has the second-lowest beer tax among the 50 states.
Roger Wilson, executive director of MADD Missouri, said the organization is pursuing a variety of anti-alcohol legislation, including a sales tax, restrictions on open containers in vehicles and a requirement that keg purchases be registered.
And, Wilson said, the state needs more officers.
The size of the state's law enforcement staffs is "woefully inadequate," he said. "But there's people looking at the problem, and we're looking at it too."

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