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Colo. Drunken Driving Death Rate Rises In 2008
Deaths Down Nationally; Rates Improving In 2009
POSTED: 11:57 am MST December 8, 2009
UPDATED: 1:05 pm MST December 8, 2009
DENVER -- Deaths in drunken driving crashes are down nationally but up in Colorado. A new federal report has found that drunken driving fatality rates fell in 40 states and the District of Columbia in 2008. The rates in three states remained virtually unchanged but the rate increased in Colorado along with six other states. In 2008, 273 people were killed in drunken driving crashes in Colorado for a rate of .36 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. That's an increase of 6 percent from 2007.
Colorado's rate is still near the national average despite the increase. Montana has the highest DUI death rate in the nation even though deaths there declined last year.The other states that showed an increase in their DUI fatality rates from 2007 to 2008 were New Hampshire, Kansas, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Idaho and Oklahoma.However, 2009 is looking better.The Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Department of Transportation predict Colorado will report a much lower alcohol-related fatality rate this year, the Denver Post reported.Through September, the State Patrol has seen a 27 percent decrease in alcohol- and drug-related deaths in crashes it investigated.
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