Durham court outreaches to Latinos to prevent DWI
Posted: 12-15-2005 :

46% OF INDIVIDUALS CHARGED WITH DWI ARE LATINO ACCORDING TO STUDY OF TRAFFIC CHARGES IN DURHAM COURT

The Durham Latino Coalition for the Prevention of DWI will conduct outreach in traffic court as part of its holiday season campaign from December 5, 2005 to January 6, 2006. Volunteers will distribute materials (including “fotonovellas” and key chains) in English and Spanish on Drinking While Impaired (DWI) prevention to all individuals appearing in traffic court, but with a special focus on Latinos.

Latinos are over represented among individuals charged with DWI in Durham. Latinos account for 7.6% of Durham’s population, but account for a much greater percentage of those individuals charged with DWIs and other traffic offenses.

In Durham 44% (589) of individuals charged with a traffic offense are Latino and 40% (74) of all individuals charged with a DWI were Latino. (Based on the Coalition’s sampling of data from the Durham Traffic Court dockets. A one week period (5 days) of Durham Traffic Court was selected at random from each of the last 3 months of 2004 and yielded a total sample of 1338 of individuals charged with traffic offences.)

In Durham 46% (253) of individuals charged with DWI are Latino. 99% (251) of Latinos charged with DWI were male, with an average age of 27 years old. (Based on the Coalition’s examination of the Durham City Police Department’s 2004 DWI Arrest Record which accounts for all the DWI arrests (801) from 1-1-04 to 12-31-04.)

The Latino community in Durham is paying a terrible cost for the high rate of drinking and driving. Apart from the cost of legal fees, fines, lost wages from DWI convictions, the cost of drinking and driving in terms of death and injury is also high. Recent data for 2002-2003 from a local trauma center shows that 43% of Latino admissions are due to motor vehicle collisions and a significant number involved alcohol use.

Contact: Paul Savery, (919) 493-3875