According to a recent study based by Texas motor vehicle officials, Latinos are at a greater risk than other groups to die from crashes related to driving while intoxicated.
The study, part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) “Save A Life” campaign, was intended to alert drivers to the dangers of drinking and driving, a topic of heightened concern for the department.
In Texas, the TxDOT reported that 10,607 Latino drivers were involved in alcohol-related crashes in 2009, and the nearly 200 that died represent 31 percent of all DWI driver fatalities in the state, according to a recent article in the Huffington Post.
A 2010 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that Latinos are “at particular risk of death and injury from alcohol-related crashes.” In 2006, 5,405 Latinos in the United States were killed on the road, and 49 percent died from alcohol-related collisions, according to the NHTSA report.
Another 2010 report by the NHTSA, “Special Report on Race/Ethnicity and Impaired Driving,” found that Hispanics are “less likely” to believe that driving while intoxicated is a “safety problem” or that they will be caught in the act.
