Spatial Concordance of DWI Arrests and Alcohol-Related Traffic Accidents

Anchorage Police Department figures indicate that during the five-year period from 1994 to 1998, annually in Anchorage between 1,500 and 2,000 DWI arrests were made, 300 to 400 DWI-related traffic accidents occurred, and from 40 to 90 percent of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related.

This project will use accident data to locate problem hot spots — i.e., where there might be spatial concentrations of alcohol-related traffic accidents — and DWI arrest data to indicate where enforcement activity is concentrated. The focus of the study will be to isolate misalignments, that is, to locate any problem areas that receive little enforcement attention as well as enforcement concentrations that are not apparent problem areas.

Policy implications for the first misalignment situation are fairly evident — enforcement resources may need to be shifted to address the problem. The second situation is more complex. It may be that enforcement activity is mitigating the problem in which case the resources may be well engaged; or it may be that enforcement activity is occurring in a location where problems from drunk driving and alcohol-related traffic accidents are not prevalent. In the later case consideration might given to shifting those resources.

Results of the study should inform two areas of concern. First, the study will develop a method to help Anchorage police determine whether specific enforcement resources are deployed where target problems are located. Second, the study will provide insights into the relation between drunk driving enforcement activity and alcohol-related traffic accidents.