The North Dakota Tourism Division markets the state as “Legendary,” and no doubt the state has its share of unforgettable people, places and things.
Not so highly touted, however, is its standing as one of the worst places in the United States for drunk driving, according to data analyzed by backgroundchecks.org and released in March 2017.
North Dakota is second on the list of those with DUI problems. The state’s DUI death rate (per 100,000) was 6.60, and it marked 6,351 DUI arrests. The state keeps company on the overall list with Wyoming, ranked first; South Dakota, ranked third; and Montana, ranked fourth.
“To create a ranking of states, we took a combination of deaths directly attributable to DUIs, DUI arrests per 100,000 people, and drinking too much before driving, as reported by drivers themselves,” backgroundchecks.org said in its release of the data. “We then created a weighted formula.”
The original data used to create the weighted formula came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Take Note: If you have lost your license and need to work on driver’s license restoration, browse through the attorney directories on www.Drunkdrivingattorneys.com or www.DriversLicenseRestorers.com. Pick an attorney experienced and knowledgeable in the driver’s license appeal (restoration) process in your state. If you need to get treatment to help make a case for restoring your license, there are treatment center directories on both sites. If you need information about points on your driving record, check your state department of motor vehicles. In North Dakota, go to www.dot.nd.gov. Helping yourself is always the first step in having your DUI attorney help you.
In North Dakota, which is punctuated by the Great Plains and Badlands, some officials attribute the state’s drunk driving problem to its rural nature. It is the fourth sparsely populated state in the country.
“You go the back roads home or, you know, the less traveled streets in the city,” Lt. B.J. Maxson with the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department said in a 2016 article about the state’s DUI problem.
“You know, unfortunately we can’t be everywhere all the time and I think with it being so rural, there’s just that many more opportunities to travel a road that you won’t find law enforcement,” he said.
If the location of sobriety checkpoints is any indication of where the worst drunk driving sites are in the state, Bismarck, the state capital, might be one of them. As recently as July 7 the North Dakota Highway Patrol conducted a sobriety checkpoint in Burleigh County, which has Bismarck as its seat.
Fargo, located in Cass County and the state’s largest city, also has been a regular location for sobriety checkpoints. Records going back to 2009 show various checkpoints around the city.
“The purpose of sobriety checkpoints is to deter drunk driving,” the city of Fargo says on its website. “On average, four drivers are arrested for DUI at each checkpoint, but more importantly, many others are deterred from driving drunk simply because they were made aware of the sobriety checkpoint.”
In terms of the big picture for the state, the North Dakota Highway Patrol’s website (www.nd.gov/ndhp/) shows 1,194 total DUI arrests in 2016 and 722 as of August 25, 2017. Information on North Dakota’s current DUI laws can be found here.
“The fact that over 10,000 people a year die from DUI-related accidents is a travesty,” Trent Wilson, co-author of the backgroundchecks.org research, was quoted as saying. “We hope this research will open some eyes and make people think twice before drinking and driving.”
