Michigan Drinking And Driving Laws – Michigan police have been issuing tickets under the state’s “drunk driving” law for the past five years. So, has it helped make Michigan roads safer?
The number of alcohol-related accidents has decreased since the implementation of the law, which provides severe penalties for those caught driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.17 percent than those with a lower percentage of alcohol in their systems at them.
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At the same time, the number of drunk driving in the entire state is going down. One reason: There are fewer police officers on the road due to budget cuts, according to a 2012 analysis of the decline in drunken driving tickets.
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But law enforcement officials still praise the law, saying it targets drunk drivers, who are often at fault for serious accidents.
Consider what happened to 18-year-old Curt Orlowski and Dakota Gonzales, who died when a pickup truck crossed the median and hit their car on US 23 between Ann Arbor and Milan on July 3, 2014.
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The driver of that car, 20-year-old Travis Cunningham, had a blood alcohol level of 0.22 percent, making it over 0.17 percent.
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Or consider the case of Michelle Lerma, 41, who was killed by 55-year-old Gregory Johnson while driving the wrong way on I-96 in Grand Rapids in September 2014. As it turned out, her blood alcohol level was 0.196. percent.
“They are the ones most often involved in serious accidents,” said Tyler MacEachran, program director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “Law enforcement, MADD, and people in the courts know that the high BAC (blood alcohol content) is working, and we want to follow them.”
Authorities believe operating while intoxicated with a high BAC, the official name of the charge, is a deterrent for drivers like Cunningham, Lerma and Jeffrey Simmons, 55, who had a 0.40 percent BAC when he was arrested in March. different ways
A black pickup truck driver drove around a drive-thru Tim Hortons in suburban Port Huron last February and started spinning his tires.
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He ordered the driver to go back into the parking lot, but the driver tried to flee, going the other way around the restaurant, then turned around and went the other way towards the sergeant’s car.
The 55-year-old driver had a cigarette in his mouth, apparently to mask the smell of whiskey on his breath, when he collided with a state truck. It was 8.25 in the morning.
“I ordered the driver to take the light out of his mouth,” state police wrote in a crash report. He wrote. “When I did this, I immediately recognized a strong and sour smell.”
When he was taken into custody, Simmons told police he had a beer or two the night before. However, the soldiers received 1.75-liter bottles of Old Crow Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey. Two of them were empty. The third is a whole quarter.
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Simmons’ preliminary breathalyzer test showed his blood alcohol level was 0.283 percent. A second breathalyzer test read 0.36, sending him to Port Huron Mercy Hospital, where doctors drew blood and told police Simmons’ BAC was 0.40 percent, more than four times the legal limit.
D., an emergency room physician at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. Brad Uren says that a BAC over 0.30 means the person is at risk of losing consciousness.
Simmons was taken to the hospital for observation before being taken to jail, where he was charged with driving under the influence. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, probation and a fine; This is a more severe sentence than a typical OWI conviction would receive.
Although law enforcement and the courts are quick to say that the “too drunk” law keeps drunk drivers off the road, they appreciate the harsher penalties.
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Simmons was arrested in St. “I think it’s a great tool,” said St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon. “There is no need to be behind the wheel when you are a very drunk driver. Our council has done a good job of putting this together.”
Donnell, St. He said that St. Clair County sees its share of drunk driving as the Port Huron area has many entertainment opportunities, such as summer festivals and major events such as the Port Huron to Mackinac boat race.
The number of alcohol-related crashes and deaths across the state has decreased slightly since the law took effect. In 2011, the first year the “super drunk” law was enacted, there were 9,845 alcohol-related crashes, including 253 deaths. In 2014, there were 9,396 accidents in the state, 222 of which were fatal.
The number of “super drunk” driving tickets has fallen across the state in recent years; While there were 11,998 in 2011, the first full year of the law, it fell to 10,116 in 2014, the last year, according to available figures. This represents a 16 per cent drop in the number of drink tickets written.
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However, statistics show that there is a continuous downward trend in all drunk driving tickets written. While the number of regular OWI tickets written in 2011 was 14,840, that number in 2014 was 14,270, a 4 percent decrease.
When looking at all drunk drivers, including arrests of minors who no longer drink alcohol, there were 28,342 arrests in 2011 and 25,883 in 2014; This rate is a decrease of 9 percent.
Michigan State Police contacted the Government Office. Rick Snyder and the Attorney General’s Office for an update on the incident. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Michigan State Police just generally.
“I can tell you in general that the state’s drunk driving laws, including the High BAC law, is one of the areas of drunk driving that also includes enforcement and public education,” the MSP spokesperson said Tiffany Brown in email.
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Every year since 2011, each county in Michigan has been ranked by the percentage of registered drivers arrested for having a high BAC in that county.
We also ranked counties by the percentage of registered drivers involved in alcohol-related crashes and alcohol-related crashes. The classification, based on data from the Michigan State Police, excludes vehicles that may be involved in more than a quarter of alcohol-related crashes in the county each year.
It is also important to note that these rankings give a general idea of what is happening across the state and each province. For example, the ranking is based on registered drivers in each county, but does not take into account that those arrested in that county may not be specific drivers.
Many of the counties in the top 10 in 2011 and 2014 are not located in any of the state’s population centers. For example, the tip of the Peninsula behind Gogebic County was third for the “most drunk” recorded in 2011 and first in 2014.
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In 2011, the top five provinces were Isabella, Delta, Gogebic, Arenac and Mecosta. In 2014, the top five counties were Gogebic, Ontonagon, Isabella, Keweenaw and Oceana.
Our searchable database is available for readers to search for areas across the state. To find information for the entire state, click “Search” without specific counties.
Officials are quick to point out that the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Changes in funding can affect the number of street patrols and the number of criminals responded to.
Consider a place like rural Alger County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which has a population of 9,480 and 6,924 registered drivers. There were 16 “high profile” driver arrests across the county in 2011, making the county 16th in the state according to statistics. In 2014, the number of arrests dropped to eight, ranking 65th.
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Hughes said the county got help with police working overtime because of the number of incidents in the county. More police means more drunk driving tickets. But it also caused the number of accidents to decrease; This means that the area is no longer eligible for this assistance.
According to Hughes, the law is “too much” another tool that can help reduce the number of accidents. “I would love it,” he said. “I think it will make a difference in reducing accidents.”
In 2011, there were 14 accidents in Alger County and no accidents. In 2014, the number of alcohol-related accidents fell to nine and there were no deaths.
Jackson County ranked ninth in the state with 290 “highly intoxicated” driver arrests in 2011, but was 23rd with 207 in 2014.
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There were 174 alcohol-related accidents in 2011.
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