Who we are. Our community is the County of Bernalillo Catron Chaves Cibola Colfax Curry De Baca Doña Ana Eddy Grant Guadalupe Harding Hidalgo Lea Lincoln Los Alamos Luna McKinley Mora Otero Quay Rio Arriba Roosevelt Sandoval San Juan San Miguel Santa Fe Sierra Socorro Taos Torrance Union Valencia . As of 2005, _1.2 people made their homes in the county, and _1.3 of them are licensed to drive. New Mexico ranked 45th among the states for personal income per capita in 2005; and our county ranked _1.4 # among New Mexico's 33 counties for 2005 personal income per capita.  In 2005, _1.5 percent of the county's population was age 4 or less, _1.6 percent was between 5 and 17, and _1.7 percent was 18 to 24 years old. There were _1.8 housing units in the county in 2005.

DWI Death and Injury. Driving while impaired is a serious problem in our community, because of the deaths and injuries it causes. _2.1 persons died in our county's motor vehicle crashes during 2001-2005, and _2.2 of those deaths (_2.3 percent) were alcohol related. A total of _2.4 persons were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2001-2005 in our county, and _2.5 of them (_2.6 percent) involved alcohol.  An estimated _2.7 persons were permanently disabled during 2001-2005 by injuries that drunk drivers caused.

Most New Mexico DWI death is in rural areas, where speeds are higher, but the majority of DWI injuries occur in cities, where the population is concentrated and alcohol vendors are common. Many rural DWI crashes involve those who live, or drink, in cities, so city and county problems with DWI are interconnected. _2.8 DWI related deaths occurred in the cities of our county in 2001-2005, _2.9 percent of our total DWI deaths in the county. _2.10 DWI related injuries occurred in the cities, _2.11 percent of total DWI injuries for the county.

The burden that DWI death and injury puts on families in our community is extreme. _3.1 percent of our families have had a member killed or injured in a DWI related crash between 2001-2005. The total economic cost for county for DWI related crashes in 2005 was _3.2 , including costs for medical care, property damage, and time off the job that result from DWI crashes. Every family in our community shared that 2005 cost by paying increased taxes, business and medical costs, and insurance in the amount of _3.3

We all die of some cause in the end, but impaired driving brings death early. Unless present DWI rates change, _4.1 individuals now among us in our county will one day meet death prematurely due to drunk driving.  _4.2 people now alive and healthy here will one day become permanently disabled by drunk driving. _4.3 citizens will be involved in a DWI crash at some point in their lives.

It is important that we change the conditions that allow this to go on. In 1993, New Mexico ranked highest in the nation for motor vehicle deaths per capita. While ideal statistics for comparing DWI death rates among states are not uniformly available, it is well established that New Mexico in recent years ranks first in the nation for cirrhosis of the liver death rate, that we rank first for pedestrian deaths per capita, and that our alcohol-related crash death rate for 2005 was 83 percent higher than the rate in the rest of the nation. Within New Mexico, for 2001-2005, our county ranked _5.1 among New Mexico's 33 counties for alcohol related crash injuries per capita.

Of course, DWI kills so often partly because so many of our citizens fail to use their safety belts. For 2001-2005, _5.2 percent of vehicle occupants killed by drunk drivers in our county were not using occupant protection devices.

The annual count of DWI-related deaths and injuries in New Mexico dropped dramatically between 1993 and 1998, then leveled off, showing little change since then.  Unfortunately, State crash data problems resulted in unreliable non-fatal crash data for 2005, but reasonably reliable counts were available for 1993-2004.  In our county , alcohol-related crash counts are ........ increasing decreasing level highly variable . 

Statewide, 57 percent of DWI crashes happen at night, compared to _5.4 in our county. Statewide, 23 percent happen on Friday and Saturday nights in 2001-2005, compared to _5.5 percent in our county.

Who is Driving Drunk. Among New Mexico drunk drivers in crashes, 77 percent are male, and 50.3 percent are under age 30. In our county, _6.1 percent of 2001-2005 drunk drivers in crashes are male, and _6.2 percent are under age 30. Statewide, 18.0 percent are under age 21, compared to _6.3 percent here. Statewide, 9.7 percent of drunk drivers in crashes are from another state. In our county, _6.4 percent are from out of state.

Statewide in 2005, the average BAC at arrest was 0.16. In our county, the average BAC for arrested drunk drivers is _7.1 , _7.2 percent above the legal limit. To reach that level, a 160-lb. driver must drink about _7.3 cans of beer, glasses of wine, or shots of high-proof liquor in one hour, or _7.4 in two hours.

For New Mexico overall, 47 percent of drunk drivers arrested in 2003-2005 had prior arrests since July 1984. In our county, for 2003-2005, _8.1 percent had prior arrests. _8.2 had two or more prior arrests. 

Of those arrested for DWI in our county in 2000-2002, _8.3 percent were rearrested within 12 months,  _8.4 percent were rearrested within 24 months, and _8.5 percent were rearrested within 36 months.  These figures can be contrasted to the corresponding statewide rates of 10.1%, 19.0%, and 27.0%.  

For first offenders, _8.6 percent were rearrested within 12 months, _8.7 percent within 24 months, and _8.8 percent within 36 months (versus 8.4%, 14.9%, and 19.6% statewide).  For offenders with prior arrests, _8.9 percent were rearrested within 12 months, _8.10 percent within 24 months, and _8.11 percent within 36 months  (versus 10.3%, 18.2%, and 24.7% statewide).

DWI Enforcement. Based on the statewide rate that one in seven New Mexico drivers has been convicted of DWI, approximately _9.1 drivers in our county have been convicted of DWI. In 2005, _9.2 were arrested for DWI, _9.3 percent of all drivers in the county, ........ higher than lower than matching the statewide rate of 1.6 percent.

New Mexico law enforcement operates on three or four levels in most counties: municipal police, tribal police, sheriffs departments, and State Police. In our county, municipal police made _9.7 percent of arrests in 2003-2005, tribal police arrests reported to the state made up _9.8 percent, the sheriff's office made _9.9 percent, and the State Police made _9.10 percent. Defining "active" DWI enforcement as arrests of impaired drivers for traffic violations, and "passive" enforcement as arrests resulting from crashes, _9.11 percent of arrests in our county were active, a level ........ higher than lower than matching the state rate of 85 percent, indicating that enforcement here is ........ aggressive moderate restrained .

Arresting juveniles (ie, those under age 18) is especially burdensome for police. Some police agencies go all out on enforcing laws against DWI and drinking by juveniles. Some police agencies rarely arrest juveniles for DWI, because of the burden it imposes; instead, they call the parents to collect their child. Some agencies make the arrest, but do not send the citation to the Motor Vehicle Division as the law requires, so teen drunk drivers do not lose their license. In our county, DWI arrests of  juveniles reported to MVD were _10.1 percent arrests of total DWI arrests in the county for 2003-2005, compared to 1.9% statewide.  Arrests of minors age 18-20 were _10.2 percent, compared to 9.4% statewide.

Crash and enforcement data can be used to study the correspondence between timing of a community's deterrence efforts and alcohol-related injury problems.  Regarding enforcement levels by month for 2001-2005 , our community's efforts ........ are balanced underemphasize Spring underemphasize Summer underemphasize Autumn underemphasize Winter are highly variable .

Reviewing levels by day of the week (and counting crashes and arrests before 6am Saturday as "Friday night", before 6am Sunday as "Saturday night", etc.) , our community's efforts ........ are balanced underemphasize weekends overemphasize weekends are highly variable .  Regarding hour of day , our community's efforts ........ are balanced underemphasize daytime underemphasize evenings underemphasize latenight are highly variable .

Analysis of data also can offer insights about how enforcement levels correspond to who is driving drunk and how drunk those individuals are.  Comparing arrest BAC's to state-level data on BAC's of impaired drivers in crashes , our community's efforts ........ are balanced underemphasize low BAC's underemphasize midrange BAC's underemphasize high BAC's are highly variable . Comparing ages of arrested drivers to ages of impaired drivers in crashes , our community's efforts ........ are balanced underemphasize youth underemphasize young adults underemphasize older adults are highly variable .

In New Mexico as a whole, DWI arrests declined from 1994 to 2000, then started to rise, though never returning to their high 1994 level. In our county , DWI arrests have ........ increased not changed decreased varied .

New Mexico law provides that, upon arrest for DWI, police take away the suspect's driver license and issue a temporary permit. At the end of 20 days, the permit expires if no hearing is requested, and the driver has no valid license for 90 days (on a first arrest), or one year (for a repeat offense or for refusing a BAC test). In our community, of all drivers arrested in 2003-2005, _11.1 percent lost their license through this "administrative revocation" process.

Arrested drivers have the right to request a hearing, delaying the effective revocation date until the hearing is held. In our community, _11.2 percent of arrested drivers requested hearings in 2003-2005, a rate that ........ is higher than is less than matches the statewide rate of 28 percent. In communities where court dates for arrest come long after arrest, some suspects' attorneys occasionally request a hearing only so they can use it as a preview for the trial. In our community, court dates are on average _11.4 days after the arrest and hearings on average happen _11.5 days after the arrest, so hearings in general are held ........ before after close to the court date.

When hearings are held, _11.7 percent uphold the police action of license revocation, compared to the statewide rate of 51 percent. All told, there were _11.8 administrative license revocation hearings held in our community in 2003-2005, each requiring about four hours of police officer time.

The Courts and DWI.   Statewide, about 77 percent of 2003-2005 DWI arrests with dispositions reported to the Motor Vehicle Division resulted in convictions, and 24 percent result in dismissal or acquittal.  In our community, _12.1 percent of cases result in reported conviction, _12.2 percent result in reported dismissal or acquittal.  For those cases, statewide 61 percent pled guilty, compared to _12.3 percent in our community.

Courts' failure to report case outcomes remains a major problem for DWI case handling in New Mexico, often resulting in repeat offenders being prosecuted as first-timers because prior case records are inaccessible, inaccurate driving records for occupation and insurance checks, and evasion of some license revocation penalties.  Statewide, 15 percent of DWI arrests for 2005 still had no disposition reported 12 months after the arrest date, and 16 percent of DWI arrests in 2004 still had no disposition reported 24 months after the arrest date.  For our community's cases, _12.4 percent had no disposition reported as of 12 months after the arrest date, and _12.5 had no disposition reported as of 24 months after the arrest date.     

Costs of DWI enforcement and adjudication can be very substantial, though far less than the costs of the crashes, deaths, and injuries that drunk drivers cause. An Oakland, California, study found that the average cost to the criminal justice system for a DWI case , including costs for police time, courts, and jails, averaged $1297. Based on that estimate, New Mexico spent an annual average of $25.6 million for 2003-2005 for the direct costs of DWI case handling in the criminal justice system. In our community, DWI case handling is estimated to have cost _12.6 $ annually for 2003-2005.