Thread: Campaign aims to reduce Hispanic DUI's

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Campaign aims to reduce Hispanic DUI's
6/28/2006 4:24 PM
By: Tim Boyum

RALEIGH -- Hispanic advocates are desperately looking to prevent drunk driving crashes. Alcohol-related wrecks are the number one cause of death for Hispanics in North Carolina.

Last year 14,000 Latinos were arrested for drunk driving in the state. Nearly all of them are young men who are first generation immigrants.

“If you can relate this to young men going off to college and what drinking is like on a college campus, you can probably relate to what it's like to be a young man in this country, a long way from home, not knowing anyone or the customs not knowing what is there to do,” El Pueblo’s Tony Asion said.

That's why the state has begun a new education campaign. Surveys show many Hispanics don't know the laws or the consequences of drinking and driving.

“Most of the Hispanic countries do have DWI laws, however they do not enforce it as we do in the U.S. and especially in North Carolina,” J.E. Brewer of the Highway Patrol said. “Then they get arrested here and it becomes a big problem.”

But not only is drunk driving the number one cause of death for Hispanics in North Carolina, it's also caused a lot of controversy as a number of illegal immigrants have been involved in drunk driving cases.

“It’s a crime, but it's a person who was drinking and driving not necessarily a Latino, and we sometimes we focus on ‘Oh,it was a Latino who did it’ instead of it was a person who did it,” Asion continued.

This campaign focuses on making sure Hispanics across the state understand the laws to prevent drinking and driving. The state is also working to better understand the Hispanic population.

“To conduct recruiting because right now we're in dire need of Spanish or Spanish-speaking troopers in the highway patrol,” Trooper Brewer continued.

The campaign will feature education through the Hispanic media in Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle.

How about we start this campaign by not giving them driver's licenses when they are unable to read, write, speak or understand English which makes them a danger to everyone. Only when they are proficient in English AND are legal residents, have passed the written and practical examinations should they be permitted to drive on our highways.

Nearly all of them are young men who are first generation immigrants.

Now, there is a twist...."first generation immigrants." Instead of nearly all of them are illegal aliens or at least many of them are illegal aliens.

This campaign focuses on making sure Hispanics across the state understand the laws to prevent drinking and driving. The state is also working to better understand the Hispanic population.

They don't seem to understand immigration laws so what makes you think that they will understand any other laws?

To conduct recruiting because right now we're in dire need of Spanish or Spanish-speaking troopers in the highway patrol,” Trooper Brewer continued.

Seems to me they need to learn ENGLISH!!!!! Now they gonna let all these yahoos go coz they're too ignorant? In traveling through states I always see DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE signs. They know exactly what they're doing and just like the rest of the laws....they just don't care to obey them. It's in the rules of the road book you are supposed to read before you take your drivers test. Or did they leave that part out in the Spanish version because it's such a huge part of the "culture"?

Alcohol-related wrecks are the number one cause of death for Hispanics in North Carolina.

Notice how they don't mention that drunk driving illegals have MURDERED many North Carolinians who happened to be in their path. Many have been covered here this past year.

Notice how they don't mention that drunk driving illegals have MURDERED many North Carolinians who happened to be in their path. Many have been covered here this past year.

As Al Gore said, that would be an "Inconvenient Truth."

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/455732.html

Campaign targets drunken driving
The effort aims to educate Hispanics about the dangers and the state's laws
Eric Bishop, Staff Writer

Drunken driving is the leading cause of death among Hispanics in North Carolina, according to El Pueblo, a nonprofit advocacy group for Latinos.

That's why the group has teamed up with the Governor's Highway Safety Program and the state Highway Patrol on a multi-pronged campaign to determine the best way to address high rates of drunken driving in the state's Hispanic community.

In the Triangle, increased enforcement of DWI laws will complement an ad campaign designed to educate Hispanics about the dangers of drinking and driving, said Tony Asion, director of public safety for the organization.

The campaign's slogan: "Manejar Borracho? No Seas Tonto Muchacho!" which translates to "Drive Drunk? Don't be a Fool Man!"

El Pueblo has begun to introduce different strategies of education and enforcement in three areas of the state to gauge their effectiveness.

The project's Triangle component will involve more traffic checkpoints targeting drunken drivers, increased distribution of pamphlets to Hispanics and a series of TV, radio and print ads in Hispanic media on how drunken driving can affect families. Efforts in the Triad will just include the education component, and the project will only monitor DWI statistics in the Charlotte area.

Researchers will conduct surveys of the Hispanic community in all three areas to test the effectiveness of both education for Hispanics and highly visible enforcement of DWI laws.

Hispanics received 19 percent of DWI charges in 2005, even though they account for only 7 percent of the state's population, according to the state's Administrative Office of the Courts.

Asion said drunken driving is more common in the Hispanic community because the bulk of the state's Hispanics are young men who live alone -- a demographic prone to drinking and driving.

He also attributed the numbers to a lack of understanding of the state's DWI laws and a "machismo" attitude that discourages Hispanic men from admitting they are too drunk to drive.

"We have to change that mindset," Asion said.

Efforts to curb drunken driving among Latinos have had mild success: the percentage of alcohol-related crashes involving Latinos in North Carolina has dropped from 9.2 percent in 2000 to 7.6 percent in 2004.

But drunken driving among Hispanics is still a huge problem, Asion said.

Programs like this can't do much to stop people from drinking and driving unless they receive much more funding, said Rob Foss, senior research scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.

"If you're talking about trying to move around the behavior of several hundred thousand people, that's just peanuts," Foss said, referring to the project's relatively small budget of about $250,000.

Still, El Pueblo hopes to cut drunken driving fatalities in the Hispanic community by 25 percent by the end of the 30-month project, Asion said.

"We feel it is our responsibility to educate and to curtail these numbers," he said.

Staff writer Eric Bishop can be reached at 812-3769 or ebishop@newsobserver.com.

Last year 14,000 Latinos were arrested for drunk driving in the state. Nearly all of them are young men who are first generation immigrants.

Right, and how many innocent people did they kill? 14,000 must make up a huge percentage of overall DUI arrests.
The candy coated "first generation immigrants" makes me want to barf.

This cowardly little news media can't even call them what they are- illegal aliens, with no legal right to be in this country.

Our squeamish vote pandering, power hungry, government officials don't have the backbone or moral responsibility to live up to their duty to protect this country and it's citizens by insisting that our laws be enforced.

Many of the law enforcement agencies that paid to protect our citizens don't do their jobs using the excuse that it is a federal problem. Bull, if they really wanted to they could enforce the laws, but I guess speed traps are easier and they get more revenue. Just my opinion and sometimes I do go off.

Still, El Pueblo hopes to cut drunken driving fatalities in the Hispanic community by 25 percent by the end of the 30-month project, Asion said.

I have never heard of a drunken driving death that involved a LEGAL alien.....This paints ALL Hispanics as being involved. I think the percentage of legals would be low. However, as always, they can't SAY the words ILLEGAL! Just how many more will have to die?????? Deport them!!!!