Mwa 2 Revision

Proposal to Reduce DUI Arrest Rates and Accidents
To: The City of Albuquerque

By: Ray Murphy
Introduction
This proposal will be about driving under the influence problem in
Albuquerque. There will be a description of the problem, specifically in
Albuquerque, and some of the factors that can be responsible for making DUI
a problem. The will also be a proposal of how to help solve drunk driving that
will include more checkpoints and alternate modes of transportation.
Included in the proposal will be details on how to make it happen and what it
would take to make it happen in terms of resources.
The Problem
One of the biggest and most well-known problems in Albuquerque and
the whole state of New Mexico is driving under the influence. It seems like
its every other day that we hear about motor vehicle accidents involving a
drunk driver or someone that was driving under the influence. These
incidents that we do hear about in the news are the ones that are not caught
in time, the ones that end up doing the ultimate damage, the ones that end
in serious injury and far too often death. It is not hard to recognize the
harmful effects that driving under the influence causes our local community.
It is one thing when someone that is driving under the influence gets in a
single car crash and hurts themselves or even takes their own lives, but it is
completely atrocious when an innocent citizen is injured or has their life
taken away because of the actions of another.
DUI Arrest Rates (per 100,000 people)

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
579
408
381
109
Driving under the

influence is a problem throughout the entire country but Albuquerque is
notorious for having a high rate of DUIs. You can see how this graph
illustrates that this is a much bigger problem for the city of Albuquerque than
it is for surrounding cites of comparable size. Even though the graph is
showing the arrest rates per 100,000 people, our rates are dramatically
higher than the city that has a larger population in Denver, Colorado.(FBI
Arrest Statistics) Even though we are not one of the major metropolitan
areas in the United States, we still have higher DUI arrests than a lot of large
cities in the country. Why is this such a problem for us when other cities
seem to have a pretty good handle on the problem?
One of the reasons that could be making this such a big problem for us
is that the city of Albuquerque is not strict enough about the problem. There
are two ways in which Albuquerque is not doing good enough to stop this
problem and they both have to do with deterring people from drinking and
driving. The first way is that they do not have enough DUI checkpoints. Since
people know that Albuquerque doesnt have a lot of checkpoints they will be
more likely to drive after drinking because they arent worried about getting
caught. The second way that the city is not doing enough is in terms of
punishments for offenders. The current punishments for first time offenders
in New Mexico is only a 90 day license revocation. This is not a severe

enough punishment to deter people from driving under the influence. If the
punishments are not harsh than people will not be worried about the
consequences of getting caught. In other terms this comes down to certainty
of punishment and severity of punishment, both of which the city of
Albuquerque is lacking on.
The Solution
Step One: Increase the certainty of getting caught driving under the
influence
If offenders are more certain to be caught than they will be less likely
to commit the crime. The way the city can increase the certainty of getting
caught is by increasing the amount of DUI checkpoints that are conducted. If
the city were to run two additional checkpoints a week, this could make a
significant impact. The citizens would notice that there are more checkpoints
that could lead to them getting so they will be less likely to drive under the
influence. In other terms the certainty of punishment will increase so the
likelihood of offending will decrease.
Step Two: Increase the severity of punishment for drunk drivers
The current punishment for first time offenders in the state of New
Mexico is simply a 90 day license revocation. For the second offense, there is
no set time for the license revocation and the offender is required to get an
ignition interlock in their vehicle. (FindLaw) By increasing the time that the
license is revoked on the first offense and requiring an ignition interlock on
the first offense this could deter more people because the consequences are
more severe.
Step Three: Offer alternate modes of transportation
One of the reasons why people choose to drink and drive is because
the alternate options are limited. City buses stop their routes before 10pm
which is before most of the people that are drinking are trying to get home. If
we can have a few buses that run 24 hours, even if it happens only on
weekends, this would give drinkers another option to return safely home late
at night or in the early morning.
Another option to provide another mode of transportation is some sort
of city rail way. The city in the first graph that has the lowest DUI arrest rate,
Denver, has an excellent light rail that runs through their city. This is most
likely a reason why they have such a low DUI arrest rate compared to
Albuquerque. Their light rail has 30+ plus stops throughout the metropolitan
area that are often in line with public bus stops and park and ride lots. Their
light rail runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year and the average fare is $13. In
2015 the operation cost of the Denver light rail was $466.7 million with
103,377,797 riders. (RTD) If you get the average fare of $13 for every one of
those 100 million riders you get over one billion dollars, well over the
operation costs as seen in the graph.
Monthly Funding/Income (Millions)

$120
$112
$100
$80
$60
$40
$38
$20
$0
Operating Costs
Potential Income
This is something that Albuquerque should really consider funding. We

would be able to do it on a smaller scale which would make the operating
costs lower and the fares more affordable for our citizens. The city of
Albuquerque should use the city of Denver of a model city in providing
another form of transportation that could be used for everyday commuters
as well as to combat drunk drivers.
Qualifications
The DWI Resource Center is the right organization to oversee this
proposal due to our years of fighting for this cause. Since 1993 we have been
working to reduce drunk driving in the state of New Mexico. We try to reduce
the problem through education, awareness, and research. We have a team of
researchers that are dedicated to this cause and are constantly working to
find ways to reduce drunk driving. We believe we are well equipped and
qualified to assist the city of Albuquerque in taking these steps to combat
DUIs. (DWIRC)
Cost/Benefit
Hopefully you can see how this proposal would be of great benefit to
the city of Albuquerque. The ideas mentioned will require additional funding.
The rail system in Denver cost around $700 million to build. Since
Albuquerque is smaller it could cost around $500 million dollars to build here.
The funding would be difficult at first but once it gets off the ground the city
will definitely be able to see the benefits in more ways than one. The
proposal of a city rail system would take the most funding and campaigning,
but if it does happen the city could see a possible profit from the rail system
as outlined in the solution section. The other way in which this proposal
would benefit Albuquerque is that it would be reducing the amount of drunk
drivers in turn making the streets safer for responsible drivers. The city will
see less DUI arrest rates and less families will be mourning for a loved one
lost at the hands of a drunk driver. This will also reduce traffic congestion on
our streets and reduce the amount of harmful emissions in our air. If the city
council members were to approve this proposal and provide funding, they
will not regret it and it wont take long for them to see that the benefits
would far outweigh the costs. Thank you for taking the time to review this
proposal and we really hope you consider this as a real possible solution to
help solve the drunk driving problem in New Mexico.
Work Cited
"Drunk Driving Statistics." DWIRC. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://dwiresourcecenter.org/>.
"FBI Arrest Statistics: 1994-2012." Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics. Web. 03 Apr.
2016. <http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezaucr/asp/ucr_display.asp>.
"State-by-State DUI Penalties - FindLaw." Findlaw. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

<http://dui.findlaw.com/dui-laws-resources/state-by-state-dui-penalties.html>.
"Facts & Figures." RTD. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.rtddenver.com/factsAndFigures.shtml>.

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Proposal to Reduce DUI Arrest Rates and Accidents

To: The City of Albuquerque

DUI Arrest Rates (per 100,000 people)

Driving under the

in New Mexico is only a 90 day license revocation. This is not a severe

Monthly Funding/Income (Millions)

This is something that Albuquerque should really consider funding. We

"Drunk Driving Statistics." DWIRC. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://dwiresourcecenter.org/>.

"State-by-State DUI Penalties - FindLaw." Findlaw. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

"Facts & Figures." RTD. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.rtddenver.com/factsAndFigures.shtml>.

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