2007 MADD DUI List Released

Mothers Against Drink Driving (MADD) released its 2007 "state progress report" this past Tuesday.  In the report, all 50 states and the District of Columbia were ranked numbers 1 through 51 based on the percentage of traffic fatalities involving drunk drivers.  The MADD report uses federal data to compile the list.   

According to the list, the state of Illinois rates close to the bottom, coming in at No. 38.  Illinois took 38th place because 34.7% of Illinois' 2007 traffic fatalities involved a drunk driver. 

"We're not real proud that we're 38th," said Kristi Hosea, victim services specialist for the state affiliate office of MADD in Springfield. "We work every day to get better."

Since the report was released, a new ignition-interlock law was passed in Illinois and will take effect on January 1st.  Both state officials and MADD feel the law will allow Illinois to be lower on the list in future state wide rankings.

In Illinois, 49,527 people have three or more DUI convictions and 5,659 have five or more DUI convictions.  Other states that rank high in terms of multiple DUI offenses are:  Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, California and Florida.

At the top of the MADD list was the state of Utah with 17.1 percent of the state's traffic fatalities involving DUI.  Utah's results were the best in the nation, but MADD said that if the state passes the ignition-interlock device law, the numbers will only improve. 

North Dakota took the 51st spot because nearly half (47.7%) of traffic fatalities were attributed to drunk driving. 

The MADD reports and document can be found on the Mothers Against Drunk Driving website, madd.org.

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