Admitted drunken driving leads nation
Wisconsin's culture of alcohol seen as factor
By RICK ROMELL
rromell@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 22, 2008


Wisconsinites drive under the influence of alcohol - or, at least, admit to it - at a higher rate than the residents of any other state, a newly released federal study shows.

More than 26% of Wisconsin adults 18 and older told government researchers in massive nationwide surveys that they had driven under the influence in the previous year.

Not only was that the highest percentage of any state, it was more than 70% above the national average, 15.1%.

The study is consistent with a host of data on drinking in Wisconsin, which is among the country's leaders in per-person consumption of alcohol and for years has had the country's lowest abstention rate.

"I'm not shocked, I'm not surprised," Nina J. Emerson, director of the Resource Center on Impaired Driving at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said of the latest report.

Nor did the finding startle Paul Moberg, senior scientist in the Population Health Institute at UW-Madison and co-author of a 2007 study on Wisconsin's alcohol and drug use patterns.

"Not really," he said. "I think that's been what we've seen historically."

Wisconsin's 26.4% rate of driving under the influence was nearly three times the 9.5% rate in the lowest-ranking state, Utah, where Mormon tenets frown upon drinking. Several states in the South, where abstinence is common, posted rates below 12%.

One mild surprise in the latest data is the No. 3 ranking of Minnesota. Minnesota tends to come in well below Wisconsin on measures related to drinking.

Most of the top 10 states for self-reported driving under the influence are in the Upper Midwest or Great Plains - more or less the nation's heartland for alcohol consumption.

Both Moberg and Emerson pointed to a general acceptance of drinking in Wisconsin exceeding that in many other states.

"I think it's something to do with the culture of Wisconsin and what the shared expectations are of behavior," Moberg said. "People who come from other states remark on it. Any event you go to (in Wisconsin) has alcohol."

Wisconsin is "No. 1 or close on many of these indicators of adult alcohol use, and potentially risky use," he said. "And it's historically been that way."

Emerson said Wisconsin's number of taverns and other alcohol outlets per person is more than three times greater than the national average. And drunken-driving laws here are relatively lenient, she said.

But Emerson also said the widespread acceptance of drinking here might well make Wisconsin residents more likely than people elsewhere to answer honestly when asked about driving under the influence.

Further, she said, the question that forms the basis for the latest survey results is a bit squishy - asking people if during the previous 12 months they had driven a vehicle while "under the influence" of alcohol.

"That's pretty subjective," Emerson said.

The data represent the combined results of surveys conducted in 2004, 2005 and 2006 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The agency is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Nationwide, 127,283 drivers were surveyed.

People also were asked if they had driven under the influence of illicit drugs.

Nationally, 4.7% of drivers 18 and older said they had done so. Among Wisconsin residents, the rate was 5.3%. The highest percentage was in the District of Columbia, with 7.0%.





http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=742584

we do know how to party.

Well With California passing us in milk production and gaining in cheese production, We will no longer be able to claim "America's Dairyland". Guess we'll have to put "America's Partyland" on License plates!!

Its good to see that Wisconsin and most of the upper midwest rank as the most honest folks.

you do have to find fun somehow. I am from a rural town in NE Iowa that had a population of 550 people and we have 3 bars in within 1 block of the other. That is what goes on in small town america especially with the weather we get what else are we supposed to do? Sit at home and knit a skirt? The way this country is going right now is the wrong direction and we all know it. Let's concentrate on what is important, get Iraq to pay for the Policing of their own country and get it over so our soldiers can come home. We need to get ahold of our weakening dollar, drive the price of gas down and then and only then can we all start to improve our lives.

ding,ding,ding-we have a winner.Those other states are lying there asses off.

i think the people from other states are lying!

Funny,
But I don't remember taking any survey...how about the rest of you?

I don't know....I was really drunk at the time.