Staff Report
Alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities in New Mexico during the first eight weeks of this year have dropped compared to the same period in 2002, according to statistics released by New Mexico Highway’s Safety Bureau.
There were 36 alcohol-related deaths in the first eight weeks of last year, while there were 19 alcohol-related fatalities reported from Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, 2003.
“Drinking and driving continues to plague our state,” said Rhonda Faught, Highway and Transportation secretary in a department press release. “We will not be satisfied until we have zero fatalities on our highways.”
There were 226 people killed in alcohol-related car accidents throughout New Mexico in 2002. That number represents a 13 percent increase in alcohol-related traffic fatalities over 2001, when 200 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents.
There were 458 people killed overall in traffic accidents in the state in 2002, down from 464 in 2001. The causes of eight of the 2002 traffic fatalities are still unknown.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“This is an encouraging sign, but we have a lot of work to do in this area,” Faught said. “My sympathies go out to anyone who has lost a loved one in any sort of motor vehicle crash. Gov. Bill Richardson and the Highway Department are working on several pieces of legislation to reduce alcohol-involved crashes to save lives and reduce injuries in New Mexico.”
The Highway Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau provides funding for statewide law enforcement which fights against DWI through the Superblitz program, a statewide crackdown on DWI and lack of seatbelt use that will begin on March 10 and run through March 23.
Law enforcement agencies participating in Superblitz will conduct DWI checkpoints and saturation patrols throughout New Mexico to make sure motorists are driving safely and while sober.
