Wisconsin has once again put itself on record as a state with a drinking problem, ranking dead last in a recent progress report by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving.
Wisconsin ranked No. 51 behind all states and the District of Columbia in the report. States were ranked based on percentage of total traffic fatalities that involved a drunken driver in 2006.
There was a total of 305 driving fatalities in which the driver had a blood alcohol content of .08 or more in the state last year, which, according to the report, makes up 42 percent of all 2006 traffic accident fatalities.
In its report, MADD said Wisconsin ranks the worst in the nation.""
The group attributes a lack of sobriety checkpoints, first offenses not being crimes and a weak alcohol ignition interlock system - a blowing device installed on car dashboards of past drunken-driving offenders that prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver has consumed more than a programmed blood alcohol concentration - as reasons for the low ranking.
The state with the best ranking, Utah, reported 54 drunken-driving fatalities, making up about 19 percent of all traffic deaths in 2006. Among Midwest states, Indiana ranked No. 9, Iowa No. 10, Minnesota No. 22, Michigan No. 23 and Illinois No. 39.
Overall, MADD said it would work to improve the interlock systems nationwide through state legislation. The group said the systems are up to 90 percent effective in preventing repeat drunken-driving offenders.
Wisconsin also topped charts in September for being the state with the highest rates of binge and heavy drinking with 22 percent of adults classified as binge drinkers, according to UW-Madison Population Health Institute report.
