Worried about drunk-driving? Live near a bar

By ERIC MILLER
January 2003

The number of drunk-driving deaths in the United States increased last year, an alarming rise that is being blamed on too little attention being given to the cause to stop the dangerous practice in recent months.

Giving the United States a "C" for complacency, the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) pointed out that while alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped by 40 percent between the time the group was founded in 1980 and 1993, progress stalled as deaths leveled off at about 16,500 between 1993 and 1999. MADD says over the past three years, drunk-driving deaths have climbed by five percent.

Alcoholism and drunk driving are both problems, no doubt. But it's the dangerous combination of having your senses altered and driving a couple tons of steel that make this combination so dangerous.

Being drunk wouldn't be so deadly -- and present few immediate dangers -- if those drinking weren't driving.

These recently released statistics that show a reversal in the trend downward for fatalities caused by drunk driving will draw new attention to organizations that discourage drinking. I would like to call attention to another way Americans can save countless lives -- by living near a bar.

While pedestrians are at somewhat of a decreased safety level (mostly because they tend to walk in front of cars and get hit), the dangers presented by a pedestrian to other people are minimal.

Walking to a bar, especially if there were adequate pedestrian walkways separate from auto traffic, would be as safe an activity as one can have in an intoxicated state.

In the report, MADD gave states grades on their progress in fighting drunk driving. Some of the more urban states where many more people have the ability to walk to a bar scored better than states with more sprawling suburbs and auto-dependent development.

While no state earned an "A," California received the highest grade of a "B+," with New York and Oregon both receiving B's. North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina and South Dakota received a "D." Alaska and Massachusetts received a "D-." Montana received an F. (I should point out also that Washington DC received a D+, but I just chalk that up to the state of things there making one want to drink.)

An earlier report also by MADD showed that the auto-dependent cities of Dallas and Kansas City, Missouri had the highest rates of drunk-driving fatalities between 1995 and 1997.

Both cities ranked more than twice as high as the national mean. In the 1990s, Kansas City had more DUI incidents each year than more urban and transit-oriented St. Louis and Springfield combined.

Compare that to more urban and transit-oriented San Francisco where more pedestrians than occupants of motor vehicles have been killed during the past ten years (statistics don't deal specifically with drunk driving).

Nationally, pedestrians account for only 12 percent of motor vehicle deaths. The san Francisco Injury Center also points out that pedestrian injuries were heavily concentrated in the downtown area of San Francisco and along heavily trafficked corridors.

I have lived in both urban and rural areas. When I lived in "the boonies," as a young adult it was necessary to drive to find a fun place to go and experiment with alcohol. Living in suburban America, this is the case for many young adults today -- young adults who often bare the brunt of alcohol and driving related fatalities.

Today I live in San Francisco, within a three-minute walk of dozens of places that sell alcohol. If I were intoxicated, I could safely make it home. Even if I was careless and hit by a drunk driver on the way home, the urban environment makes it so that the vehicle is not able to travel at an unsafe speed- for pedestrians or vehicle occupants.

The answer here of course is not to build more bars in the suburbs. Modern (and antiquidated) zoning laws would prevent that of course, and even if it didn't the auto-oriented development would make it so walking to them would be both discouraged and impractical.

Here's my message to MADD and anyone else (virtually everyone) who may be impacted today or tomorrow. The danger comes when alcohol and driving are combined. Separately they are each a lesser evil.

Supporting smart-growth and city living (which inherently means transit use and more pedestrian activity) will lead to less drunk-driving fatalities and injuries.

Eric Miller is editor of The New Colonist, the world's destination for city living at www.newcolonist.com.