‘Heartbreaking.’ Kentucky increase in drunk-driving deaths among largest in nation
Kentucky had one of the largest increases in the nation in alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2020, according to a new report.
Crash fatalities involving alcohol went up 31.8% in Kentucky from 2019 to 2020. Only seven other states had higher percentage increases, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Kentucky’s rate was far above the 14.3% increase in the number of alcohol-related fatal wrecks in the U.S.
In addition, a greater overall share of Kentucky wrecks involved a drunk driver. In 2019, 21% of traffic deaths in the state were classified as alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, but that number rose to 26% in 2020, the report said.
“It’s heartbreaking to learn that in addition to the tragedy and disruption caused by the pandemic, families and communities are being irreparably traumatized by the 100% preventable, violent crime of drunk driving,” Alex Otte, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said in a news release.
Other notable stats
NHTSA released its latest annual report on vehicle fatalities and injuries last week.
The number of deaths in the U.S. went up from 36,355 in 2019 to 38,824 in 2020, an increase of 6.8% even as the total number of miles driven went down 11% for the year because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and shutdowns, the report said.
The number of fatalities in the country in 2020 was the highest since 2007, when there were 41,259. Deaths had gone down three years in a row before 2020.
In Kentucky, the number of crash deaths went up from 732 in 2019 to 780 in 2020, an increase of 6.6%.
Risky driving choices, most notably speeding, drunk driving and people not wearing seat belts, were responsible for the increase in deaths in Kentucky and the nation, according to NHTSA and other sources.
In Kentucky, for instance, the share of fatal wrecks involving speeding went up.
Nationally, among people in passenger vehicles who died in fatal wrecks in 2020, 51% were not wearing seat belts, the NHTSA report said.
In looking at how the pandemic changed the characteristics of drivers, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that most drivers reduced their time on the road, but a small percentage drove more.
That group tended to be younger and disproportionately male — drivers more likely to engage in risky behavior such as speeding and aggressive habits. In
“Our research finds that higher-risk motorists accounted for a greater share of drivers during the pandemic than before it,” David Yang, executive director of the AAA foundation, said in a news release. “Safety-minded individuals drove less, while many who increased their driving tended to engage in riskier behaviors behind the wheel.”
Crash deaths of men went up by 8.6% from 2019 to 2020, but only 1.9% among women, the NHTSA report said.
The number of people injured in wrecks went down significantly from 2.74 million in 2019 to 2.28 million in 2020.
But the increase in fatalities indicates more people were making decisions to drive aggressively or impaired, said Jason Siwula, assistant state highway engineer in the Transportation Cabinet.
“When people are behind the wheel, the decisions they make matter,” Siwula said.
The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, which is part of the cabinet, sponsors public-awareness campaigns aimed at reducing problem behavior such as impaired driving, speeding and not wearing seat belts, and also works with police on enforcement activities.
What about 2021?
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said in its release that the increase in fatal wrecks continued into 2021.
Information is not available for the entire year, but NHTSA’s data for the first nine months of 2021 showed that the number of traffic deaths was running ahead of the same period in 2020, the foundation said.
In Kentucky, there was increase of almost 7% in the first nine months of 2021 compared to 2020, the foundation said.
Some people may have gotten out of the habit of safe driving while they were on the road less during the pandemic, or frustrations related to the pandemic may be carrying over to the road, safety advocates said.
AAA safety tips include obeying speed limits, not driving impaired, putting your cell phone away while driving, wearing a seat belt and not driving aggressively.
“People are going to have to change their behavior,” said Lori Weaver Hawkins, spokeswoman for AAA Blue Grass.
