MADD report reinforces statewide concerns of drunken driving

A new report by Mothers Against Drunk Driving - which places Iowa among the bottom 10 states when it comes to drunk-driving laws - aligns with growing concerns in the state over impaired driving fatality trends.

The report released Friday by Irving, Texas-based MADD, which grades all 50 states on drunk-driving laws and other measures, gives Iowa one and a half stars out of five. The national average was just under three stars, according to the report, and Iowa was one of seven states to rank lower than two stars.

Linda Chapman, president of MADD's Dubuque/Jackson County chapter, said she wasn't surprised by Iowa's low grade. MADD will continue to push for legislative changes, such as requiring ignition locks for all drunken-driving offenders, she said.

'We've tried to have it addressed. We've had people from MADD National come to Des Moines to try to discuss passing that law, and it's gone unheard. It's more of the same old thing that drinking and driving issues are accepted by society, and it shouldn't be because it's a crime,” Chapman said.

According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, nearly 28 percent of the 320 traffic fatalities in Iowa last year were took place during alcohol-related crashes. Just five year's earlier, in 2010, alcohol-related crashes accounted for 20 percent of deaths in the 390 traffic fatalities.

Overall, 350 people have died on Iowa highways so far this year as of Thursday, according to the Iowa DOT. That's 71 more than in the same period through mid-November 2015.

MADD points to Iowa's drunken driving laws in need of change to begin to address the issue. In its report, states were graded for adopting drunk-driving laws or other measures that include:

l Conducting sobriety checkpoints

l Requiring ignition interlocks for all convicted drunken-driving offenders

l Creating enhanced penalties for those who drive drunk with children in the vehicle

l Penalizing suspected drunken drivers who refuse an alcohol breath test

l Revoking a drunken driver's license.

Iowa received half a star in the report in the latter three categories, but zero stars for sobriety checkpoints and all-offender interlocks.

Patrick Hoye, bureau chief with the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, said Iowa isn't necessarily more dangerous than others when it comes to impaired driving.

But the state certainly has room for improvement in regard to reducing drunken driving fatalities, he said, and it's a matter his office takes very seriously.

'On average, about 28 percent of the fatalities in Iowa are alcohol-impaired,” Hoye said. 'Up until this year, I was seeing a pretty solid decline in fatalities each year, but impaired fatalities were stuck at 28 percent - we just couldn't move that needle.”

The bureau earlier this year - following direction by Gov. Terry Branstad - created an impaired-driving coalition to explore ways to reduce the number of impaired driving-related fatalities in Iowa.

The coalition was formed less than two months after 25-year-old Benjamin E. Beary drove the wrong way on Interstate 80 and crashed into a police transport vehicle. Officers Carlos Puente-Morales, and Susan Farrell, Beary and a prisoner in the police vehicle, Tosha N. Hyatt, were killed in the crash.

Beary had a blood alcohol content of .223. The legal Iowa limit is 0.08.

'I think that was kind of the driving force behind all of that,” Hoye said.

The coalition could have recommendations finalized in a month or so. After that, the group will take a look at other issues such as distracted driving or seat belt use, Hoye added.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com