Hawai'i lethal for drunk drivers

[Miulang]

Hawai'i is only surpassed by Washington, DC in the number of people killed in fatal car crashes (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2006/db20061130_690516.htm?chan=search). I think what tipped the scale this past year were those 2 car crashes that killed all those young kids.:(

Miulang

[poinographer]

Don't conflate fatalitty "rate" with the raw numbers of fatalities, please.

That said, if you want to look at the "glass half full," then having a high rate of fatalities related to DUI means that we have a lower rate of fatalities in non-DUI incidents. i.e. drunks that crash here are likely to cause deaths, but the sober people are relatively less lethal than in other states.

Um, yeah. Hooray.

[Miulang]

Don't conflate fatalitty "rate" with the raw numbers of fatalities, please.

That said, if you want to look at the "glass half full," then having a high rate of fatalities related to DUI means that we have a lower rate of fatalities in non-DUI incidents. i.e. drunks that crash here are likely to cause deaths, but the sober people are relatively less lethal than in other states.

Um, yeah. Hooray.

The rates listed in the story are based on the number of drunk driving fatalities as a percentage of the total number of fatal accidents. That is not inflated. What probably inflated the numbers for Hawai'i were those 2 very serious accidents in which kids who were gathered by the roadside (http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5319845&nav=menu55_6_3)to mourn a classmate's death were mowed down in a second accident in the same spot.

Miulang

[poinographer]

Uh, I said "conflate" not "inflate." haha

[Miulang]

Duh, I need to clean off my specs, I guess.:D But for anyone who is anally analytical enough, here are the raw stats provided by the NHTSA (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2006/810686.pdf).

Miulang

[SouthKona]

Uh, I said "conflate" not "inflate." haha

Well, I had to look the word up. For others who might not know:
conflate \kuhn-FLAYT\, transitive verb:
1. To bring together; to fuse together; to join or meld.
2. To combine (as two readings of a text) into one whole.
:D

[Hope]

The highest number of accidents with alcohol related fatalities in the US was California, followed by Texas, then Florida. You are speaking of the percentages. I am surprised my state was relatively low, considering the bars here never close. Interesting...

http://www.madd.org/stats/11087

[craigwatanabe]

Here on the Big Island we're supposed to have the highest fatalities of all islands regarding drunk driving.

I was shocked when I read that drinking in public parks here is legal. It seems when people meet here the thing to do is to drink, "Eh wassup brah afta work we go my house and drink", "Eh no can I stay heading to da beach afta pau hana. Me and da boys going suck em up down dea, why no come and bring da keeds!"

Typical conversation from some of my co-workers. "Eh Craig come join us", "No can I gotta drive home", "Das okay nobody goin baddah us". Hmmm really? Going bother me if I had to get behind the wheel drunk as a skunk.

Drinking and driving, it's a way of life here on the Big Island...it's no wonder we have the highest fatalities in the state.

[Terranova0]

Hawai'i is only surpassed by Washington, DC in the number of people killed in fatal car crashes (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2006/db20061130_690516.htm?chan=search). I think what tipped the scale this past year were those 2 car crashes that killed all those young kids.:(

Miulang


My sincere condolences to family, friends and the community. Hopefully, the legacy of this travesty will be Hawaii significantly dropping down on that list.

I didn't realize until recently that bars were 24 hours in Hawaii. Here in CA they close form 2-6 am, (all liquor sales stop from 2-6am) which winds up making 2am a bad time to drive out here.

Blessings*

Barb