Virginia tops region in slashing impaired-driving crashes

Virginia has taken the lead in the region in slashing the number of crashes caused by impaired drivers through a combination of aggressive enforcement and education, officials said.

The number of vehicle accidents attributed to alcohol or drugs has steadily declined over the past five years, in both Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. In Maryland, the number of alcohol- and drug-related crashes have stayed roughly the same over five years. And the number of alcohol- and drug-related crashes has gone up in the District.

Police and safety groups in Virginia say frequent sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and education campaigns are helping reduce the number of drunken drivers getting involved in crashes.

Still, officials across the region say difficulties in getting people to pay attention to those messages and a lack of resources combine to hinder those efforts.

Finding the funds for extra patrols, advertisements and training is a challenge, said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Corinne Geller, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman, said the Old Dominion has been able to overcome those hurdles by pooling resources. Earlier this month, six Northern Virginia agencies and the state police teamed up for saturation patrols that netted 19 DUI arrests and nearly 500 summonses and written warnings for other violations.

"We all have limited resources, so by combining, we can maximize our efforts," Geller said.

Statewide, there were 11,736 alcohol- or drug-related traffic crashes in 2006, according to the Virginia Highway Safety Office. That number has dropped every year since, falling to 8,221 in 2010. During the same time period, Maryland's numbers have fluctuated between a high of 8,804 in 2009 and a low of 8,145 in 2008, data from the State Highway Administration shows. In D.C., the number has climbed from 259 in 2006 to 390 in 2009, the most recent available, according to the District Department of Transportation.

Checkpoints and extra patrols are effective in curbing impaired-driving crashes because they stop drunken drivers who are on the roads and are usually well-publicized, deterring other drinkers from driving in the first place, said John Saunders, director of the Virginia Highway Safety Office. The state conducted 623 checkpoints last year, he said.

In Montgomery County, police are working to stop young people -- who often don't believe they'll be harmed -- from drinking and driving and to stop parents from letting teenagers drink.

"Until we can figure out how to get them on board, we have a long way to go," said Capt. Thomas Didone, director of the traffic operations division. He said the department has focused enforcement efforts in high-crash areas and works with schools to educate teens.

In the District, police are alarmed by a high number of impaired drivers testing positive for PCP. Those users are less likely to be receptive to warnings about impaired driving, said Lt. Nicholas Breul, the head of the impaired-driving unit.

"That's one of the areas we'd like to focus on," he said. "How do we reach that community? What kind of campaign can we put together?"

Virginia has also put more heat on drunken drivers, said John Townsend, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

In 2004, the General Assembly passed a package cracking down on drunken driving, including making ignition interlock devices -- which measure the alcohol in a driver's breath before starting the car -- mandatory for drivers convicted of driving with a blood alcohol content of .15 or greater. The devices are discretionary in the District and a similar ignition-interlock bill doesn't go into effect until October in Maryland.

"We're hoping that will help us see a decrease in those numbers," said Maryland State Police 1st Sgt. Holly Barrett.

ebabay@washingtonexaminer.com