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Rakel Krumback
Brian Hendrickson
Douglas Binder
English 110/ARSC 198-610
30 October 2015
Transportation Safety
Abstract
How much does drinking while intoxicated (DWI) actually affect our society and what
are we doing to stop it? To fully understand this I did research and will share with you my
findings. Throughout this report I will be telling you how this issue affects the nation as well as
New Mexico as a state. I will start off by providing basic information about drinking while
driving. Next, I will discuss how and where I found my information, as well as my findings.
Finally, I will close with what we are doing as a nation and as a state to solve this problem and
touch on my recommendations for this devastating situation.
Background
Drinking while intoxicated causes an overwhelming amount of accidents resulting in
serious injury and in many cases even death. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) states that almost every day thirty people in just the United States die in motor vehicle
accidents involving alcohol. This means there is one death every 51 minutes caused by the
decision of one person to drive impaired.
Methods
The research was done using a variety of credible sources and experts
in this field. The CDC was a website used to discuss the impact DWI has on

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the nation. University of New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies was
a website I used to get facts about DWI in New Mexico. I interviewed Timothy
Esquibel because he has been an Albuquerque police officer for 17 years and
has had multiple DWI encounters. The Department of Transportation (DOT)
website was helpful in providing me with international laws against DWI. New
Mexico Department of Public Safety (NMDPS) was a website to gather
information on New Mexico laws against DWI. A capitol report discussed
house bills that were formed to establish new standards and punishments for
DWI criminals.

Results
First, lets look at how this particular problem affects us nationwide. CDC states that In
2013 10,076 people died from drunk driving crashes. This accounts for 31% of all motor vehicle
related deaths in the United States. DWI affects people of all ages, in 2013 there were 1,149
traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 and of those 200 were related to alcohol. Even more
shockingly, of those 200 deaths, 121 were people that were in the vehicle with the alcohol
impaired driver (CDC).
Next, lets look at how this affects New Mexico as a state. According to the University of
New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies In 2010, there were 317 fatal crashes, of those
131 were alcohol-related. In 2013 there were only 275 fatal crashes, but of those 123 were
involving alcohol (2). Also in 2013, 53% of DWI arrests in New Mexico resulted in convictions,
20% resulted in dismissals, and 26% were awaiting disposition. Alcohol-related crashes
decreased to the lowest number it has ever been in the past 10 years, but was responsible for 45%

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of all fatal crashes which is the most it has ever been in ten years. In 2013 the age group of
drivers 20 to 24 had the highest number of alcohol-involved crashes. Male drivers were 71% of
all alcohol-related drivers in crashes and 69% of all fatalities relating to drinking while driving
were male. Alcohol was involved in 8% of all motorcycle crashes (1). When looking at the
geography of crashes involving alcohol in New Mexico, Bernallio had 605 crashes in 2013 while
Taos only had 20 (6). In Albuquerque it is shown that some high risk areas for alcohol-related
crashes are Central and Lomas, Menaul and I40, and Paseo and I25 (8). CDC states that in New
Mexico from 2003-2012 1,254 people died from alcohol-related crashes. As we can see, driving
while intoxicated has a significant impact on the health and well being of New Mexico residents.
Timothy Esquibel stated that when him and his team set up a DWI checkpoint 1 in every
30th person or about five peopler per night that drive through are pulled aside and further
investigated. Tim once arrested a guy for drinking while driving, and this guy had 12 prior DWIs
on his record. Also, he arrested a woman with 7 prior DWIs. According to Tim, New Mexico
needs stricter laws regarding driving while intoxicated. Officer Esquibel informed me that one
time he was driving along the highway and saw a car pulled over in the shoulder with its hazard
lights on. He pulled over to check if the person was alright, and he noticed a strong smell of
alcohol and marijuana. Tim asked the guy to step out of the car and gave him a routine sobriety
test which he had failed. Tim arrested him and the case was taken to court. The judge ruled the
man as innocent on the basis that Officer Esquibel had no right to approach the car and
subsequently realize the man had been drinking while driving. For this reason, as well as other
reasons New Mexico needs to have stricter laws and consequences on driving while intoxicated.
(Esquibel).

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Internationally there are laws to help keep people from wanting to drink
and drive. The DOT states that these laws include the illegal blood alcohol content (BAC) level,
minimum purchase age for alcohol, age of obtaining a driving license, standard sanctions for first
offenses and multiple offenses, imposition of more severe sanctions for drivers with higher
BACs, graduated licensing systems, and systems for the re-granting of licenses. The United
States has a higher blood alcohol content than most other countries. For example, the BAC in the
United States is 0.08 but the BAC for Greece, France, Germany, and Portugal is 0.05 (DOT).
Establishing this law has proven to help lower crashes caused by alcohol. Belgium lowered its
BAC to 0.05 in 1994 and then reported a 14% reduction in fatal crashes in 1995. France lowered
its legal limit to 0.05 in 1995 and reported a 4% drop in fatal crashes the following year (DOT).
The minimum purchase age for alcohol differs based on country, some being as low as 14 years
old while others as high as 21 years of age. Many countries list the age of driving as the same as
the age to purchase alcohol (18) but some countries, like the U.S., list the driving age much
lower than the age to purchase alcohol (DOT). This law helps keep young people from drinking
and driving because then they are breaking two laws which causes more consequences.
New Mexico has specific laws to help lower and prevent crashes dealing with alcohol
consumption. According to New Mexico Department of Public Safety (NMDPS) in New
Mexico, the BAC legal limit is 0.08. New Mexico drunk driving criminal court cases can result
in punishment that includes jail time, fines, mandatory DWI educational programs, ignition
interlock devices, and more. (NMDPS). A DWI conviction can also result in a suspension of the
drivers license for up to 90 days. The first offense of a DWI in New Mexico is up to 90 days in
jail, a $500 fee, and about $200 in court costs. If your first drunk driving offense is an aggravated
DWI, a minimum of 48 hours in jail is mandatory in addition to other penalties. Aggravated

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DWIs includes driving with a BAC level of 0.16 or greater, causing bodily injury while
driving under the influence, or refusing to submit a chemical test while drinking and driving
(NMDPS). Based on the Capitol Report of New Mexico the legislation has formed House Bills
349, 479, and 31 to establish new standards for people that have repeat convictions of DWI.
Republicans added House Bill 31 to the legislation that adds mandatory prison time to basic
drunk driving sentences for offenders with previous felonies. (Mikolewski).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it has been show that the repercussions of drinking and driving
significantly affect not only New Mexico, but also the nation and the world. Worldwide and
statewide we are making an effort to end DWI through laws and education. Although, New
Mexico has good laws against drinking and driving I think they should also make laws stricter.
Under no circumstance should a person that had been drinking and driving get off. For example,
they could make a law that says anybody caught drinking while intoxicated gets their car taken to
a compound and has to pay a significant amount of money to get their car back. I also think that
educating people more will help end this problem. New Mexico requires that everybody must
take a driving course before being able to drive, and in that course they educate on DWI. I think
this is good, but that we still need to take further action on educating people of just how
dangerous it is to drink and drive. Another suggestion I have is to lower the U.S. BAC level to
0.05 because it has proven to be helpful in other countries. Driving while intoxicated causes
many problems for many states, including New Mexico, but it is nice to know that there are laws
to try and protect people and that everyday laws are still being taken under consideration to
better our state, nation, and world.

Works Cited
CDC. "Impaired Driving: Get the Facts." Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 May
2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/
impaired_driving/impaired- drv_factsheet.html>. (NATIONAL)

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DOT. "On DWI Laws in Other Countries." On DWI Laws in Other

Countries.
DOT, Mar. 2000. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/
livepage.apple.comlivepage.apple.comresearch/pub/DWIothercountries/
dwiothercountries.html>. (INTERNATIONAL)
Esquibel, Timothy Mark. "Transportation Safety." Interview by Rakel Nichole
Krumback. n.d.: n. pag. Print. (INTERVIEW)
Mikolewski. Roundhouse Tries to Crack down on Repeat Drunk
Drivers. Rep.
Capitol Report: New Mexico, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
<http://
www.capitolreportnewmexico.com/tag/drunk-driving/>.
(PREVENTION STATE REPORT)
NMDPS. "DWI Prevention | New Mexico Department of Public Safety." New
Mexico Department of Public Safety RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov.
2015. <http://www.dps.state.nm.us/index.php/dwi-prevention/>. (PREVENTION
STATE PROGRAM)
University of New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies. "New Mexico."
New Mexico Department of Transportation Traffic Safety and
Planning Divisions (2013): 1-78. New Mexico DWI Report 2013.
University of New Mexico, Sept. 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.unm.edu/~dgrint/ reports/dwirep/dwir13.pdf>. (NEW MEXICO
STATS)