PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island was ranked as one of the top 10 states in the nation for having the least problems with drunken driving.
Rhode Island ranked 45th, or sixth lowest, for drunken driving incidents in 2015, according to BackgroundChecks.org, a public safety-focused website.
The Ocean State had 19 fatalities, representing 0.43 percent of all traffic deaths, a nearly 12 percent increase from the prior year. Its DUI rate per 100,000 people was 1.8, and Rhode Island also had 2,591 DUI arrests. The DUI arrest rate per 100,000 people was 245 in Rhode Island, and 2.5 percent of adults reported drinking too much before driving in 2014, the report found.
Wyoming ranked No. 1 for having the worst DUI problem with 56 fatalities, followed by North Dakota and South Dakota, with 50 and 43 fatalities, respectively. Wyoming’s DUI death rate per 100,000 people was 9.56, while North Dakota’s was 6.6 and South Dakota’s, 4.97.
New York ranked lowest on the list, and Massachusetts, second lowest. New York had 311 fatalities and its DUI death rate per 100,000 people was 1.58, while Massachusetts had 96 fatalities and a 1.41 death rate per 100,000 people.
The website said more than 10,000 people were killed and more than 200,000 were injured in 2015 due to someone driving under the influence.
“The fact that over 10,000 people a year die from DUI related accidents is a travesty,” Trent Wilson, co-author of the research, said in a statement. “We hope this research will open some eyes and make people think twice before drinking and driving.”
To create its state ranking, BackgroundChecks.org said it took a combination of deaths directly attributable to DUIs, DUI arrests per 100,000 people, and drinking too much before driving, as reported by drivers themselves, then created a weighted formula. It used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, federal Department of Transportation and Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well as states themselves to create a score for each state.
