All Posts Tagged With: "drunk driving"

I was in car accident this week. No one was hurt thankfully, but our cars were scraped up badly. Word got around about my accident and one of the first things a few acquaintances asked me was, “Were you drinking?” – my answer was an absolute, “No”. I was startled by the question believing it to be a character attack—but then realized the question was not out of line given how commonplace drunk driving is in suburban Chicago.

I looked up the numbers of drivers arrested for DUI in Cook, DuPage, and Kane Counties. These three counties’ DUI arrests combined amounted to 43% of the state’s DUI arrests between 2004 and 2006. (I do realize that these particular counties have large populations compared to the rest of the state and have not run numbers on DUI arrests compared to population yet.)

Here are the numbers from the 2008 Illinois DUI Fact Book (interesting read, by the way)

Drivers Arrested in Illinois for DUI

Cook County: 15,219 (2004) — 15,258 (2005) — 14,144 (2006)

DuPage County: 5,254 (2004) — 5,166 (2005) — 5,285 (2006)

Kane County: 1,240 (2004) — 1,497 (2005) — 1,702 (2006)

Cook, DuPage, & Kane: 21,713 (2004) – 21,921 (2005) – 21,131 (2006)

% of DUI of state totals: 43% 44% 42%

State-wide: 50,147 (2004) — 50,192 (2005) — 50,109 (2006)

I think the high prevalence of drunk driving in the Chicago suburbs is a by-product of not having reliable or accessible public transportation. (Sure, there are taxis, but I honestly only know one person who actually calls one when he has had a few too many.) Illinois has tough DUI laws like revoking licenses and my favorite—a new law requiring first-time DUI offenders to install a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device in their cars starting 1 January 2009. A DUI is embarrassing—there are clear stakes at hand. I think if potential drunk drivers had a choice to take public transportation or face a DUI, they would take the public transit.

My question is: where are the “late night” or “all-night” busses that stop at a variety of suburban locations or the inexpensive or free “impaired driver” taxi cab ride? Should the local government offer transportation assistance to those under the influence? Should places that serve liquor band together and create some safe transportation network for their patrons?