Michigan Department of Public Safety Releases Drunk Driving Statistics

KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) -- One reason the state’s traffic fatality rate is climbing again may be partly due to the fact that people are still drinking and driving despite tougher laws that make violating the law more expensive and punitive than ever.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety wrote hundreds of tickets last year. Each one may have cost those drivers as much as $10,000 when they were finished paying a lawyer, paying fines and their insurance premiums when their rates multiplied.

If the violators held any sort of position of responsibility in law enforcement, transportation, education or the professions, a drunk driving ticket could also damage careers.

That’s just for a simple first time arrest. Kalamazoo Public Safety reports they had 285 alcohol related crashes in 2015. That’s when the penalties and the expenses can be truly life-altering and career ending.

It could also mean hospital bills or permanent injuries that may have been suffered or inflicted, and jail time incurred, and at least a few of those crashes resulted in deaths.

Seems like an awfully big risk to take. Something to consider with Super Bowl weekend just ahead.