Oh, that’s right …
Cinco de Mayo today. Be extra careful travelling after dark. The harvesting of the innocent by drunken drivers is a particular risk tonight.
Comments:
Since they’re timing “DWI Superblitzes” here with the holiday, I thought a word to the wise advisable.
Posted by Garret P Vreeland on 05/05/08 at 03:04 PM
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Previous entry: NY Times Research:
Next entry: New York Magazine:
Hmm. Quickly thumbing through some stats and press releases on the NHTSA site, I found:
- From 1999 to 2005, an average of 43 percent of all highway fatalities each year on May 5 and overnight into the early morning on May 6 were caused by impaired drivers with blood alcohol content (BAC) levels of 0.08 percent and above, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
That was from the Cinco de Mayo safety press kit. Then, from last year’s Fourth of July materials:
- In 2005, July 4th was the deadliest holiday period of the year – due to impaired driving.
- In 2005, 48 percent of all traffic fatalities that occurred in crashes during the Fourth of July holiday involved a driver or motorcycle operator with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of .01 or higher. Of those fatalities, 88 percent were in crashes where the BAC level was .08 or higher.
(The way I interpret this, 48% * 88% = 42.24%, or a roughly equal percentage.)
So it seems the alcoholic component of the celebration of independence cuts across cultures in roughly equal measure. (I don’t think you were implying anything else - I read your entry as a simple precautionary note - but it did get me wondering.)