AWARE (All Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education): Combatting Drunk Driving
AWARE (All Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education) is a UW Health-led coalition to improve the health and safety of Wisconsin residents in the fight against alcohol abuse.
One of the four pillars of the AWARE agenda is to reduce drunk driving in the state. Why? The statistics suggest the need for such action.
Drunk Driving Statistics
- Wisconsin is one of only two states that do not issue a felony charge until a person's fifth OWI
- 68 percent of drunk drivers involved in fatal and serious injury crashes had no prior OWI arrest (operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated) as of 2000, the last survey taken.
- 61 percent of Wisconsin OWI convictions are first offenses.
- In 2007, 41.4 percent of all Wisconsin motor vehicle fatalities were related to alcohol.
- A person's first Wisconsin OWI/no bodily injury is a civil penalty, not a criminal penalty. Wisconsin is the only state where a first offense is not a criminal offense.
Action Steps
- Support expanded use of ignition interlock devices.
- Legalize sobriety checkpoints.
- Convert the first OWI/no bodily injury to a criminal penalty.
- Institute a felony charge upon a person's third OWI arrest.