Thread: Latinos, drinking and driving

Latinos, drinking and driving
Troubling trend demands attention and education



In vehicular accidents, the laws of physics don't care whether you're rich, poor, white, black or Hispanic. They'll shove you through a windshield, break your bones or kill an innocent bystander.

That's why all drivers, whatever their income or ethnicity, should drive safely. Yet cultural and economic differences do show up in traffic statistics. Poorer motorists may have cars without air bags. Rural residents face badly lit roads and other risks. Immigrants may be unfamiliar with traffic conditions or laws.

In that vein, studies in some communities are noting that Latino motorists are over-represented in crashes -- particularly those that are alcohol-related, and often as victims.

It's a tough issue to discuss. First, there's a dearth of objective data. Second, the Latino population is too diverse for sweeping generalizations; there are longtime citizens and short-term immigrants, legal and not. Hispanics involved in crashes are but a small minority of the group.

Still, if a demographic appears to be at higher risk of injury and death -- as are teen drivers, for instance -- it constitutes a public safety issue. It deserves attention and, if at all possible, improvements.

The Hispanic connection

"Drinking and driving has been shown to be more prevalent among Latinos than among other groups," states the report "Traffic Safety Among Latino Populations in California," by the Traffic Safety Center of the University of California, Berkeley. "Young male Latino drivers, in particular, are at a disproportionately higher risk than other groups of being killed in alcohol-related collisions..."

Many communities haven't studied the issue. But Nashville, Tenn., did. Police found that Hispanics (about 6 percent of the city's population) caused 17 percent of fatal crashes in 2006, according to a December report in the online Nashvillecitypaper.com. Paraphrasing police, the paper said: "Alcohol was a contributing factor in 75 percent of the fatal car crashes caused this year by Hispanics, a far higher percentage than with other groups."

A study of North Carolina data, by the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, found that "Hispanic drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes are more likely to be intoxicated than members of other ethnic and racial groups," according to a report on www.starnewsonline.com.

In Tallahassee, a spokesman for the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said he knew of no such studies or trends in Florida.

Yet, in our view, recent Suncoast crashes raise red flags:

Last week, a Mexican man with no driver's license was charged with DUI manslaughter in a Manatee County bridge crash that killed a passenger and injured another.

In Hillsborough County, a motorist identified as an undocumented worker from Mexico is in jail on a DUI manslaughter charge after rear-ending an SUV that had stopped for a passing train. The collision pushed the SUV into the train, critically injuring a local woman and killing her 8-year-old son.

An unlicensed Latino man was charged with DUI manslaughter in an April 20 I-75 crash that killed a North Port man and seriously injured his wife.

Last month in Bradenton, a Mexican man described as an illegal was charged with DUI manslaughter and lack of a driver's license in the death of a motorcyclist.

The illegal-immigration connections among these tragedies need investigation. Florida denies driver's licenses to the undocumented; how do they manage to acquire car tags? And if they're driving without insurance, that needs attention, too.

Since immigration status is rarely tracked in traffic data, it is difficult to know what role it may play in the overall safety picture. But remember: It is a motorist's behavior, not his citizenship, that causes crashes. To save lives, people -- of all ethnicities -- must make the choice not to drink and drive. That requires awareness and a safety-conscious culture.

The safety message

In recent decades, DUI deaths in the United States have been reduced through a combination of educational efforts, tougher penalties and seat-belt campaigns. But, plenty of home-grown Americans continue to flout the laws. Getting the safety message across to newcomers from other countries -- with different cultural values, driving experience and languages -- could be even more difficult.

In Florida, safe-driving public service announcements go out to Spanish-language media, according to spokesmen from the Highway Patrol and the Department of Highway Safety. Bilingual officers help spread the word, and a safety course in Spanish is available. But, the department official said he knew of no programs specifically targeting Latino traffic issues. Crash data aren't uniformly tracked in that detail.

They should be, as a first step toward gauging the scope of the problem.

Better enforcement of traffic and immigration laws should be a goal, too. But that is not the answer; police are vastly outnumbered.

A consciousness-raising is needed. State and federal authorities should accelerate efforts to address the emerging safety problems. In the meantime, greater local outreach is necessary. Churches, schools, employers and respected community leaders can be more persuasive than a brief radio message.

An issue like this can easily fall into the pit of racism or the bitter fight over illegal immigration. Let's avoid that route and simply come together to save lives.


Last modified: May 20. 2007 12:00AM
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs. ... 00362/1030

Drinking and driving seems to be a macho type of thing here in California among the Mexicans. I try and stay off the roads after 10:00 PM.