DUI Related Traffic Deaths Deterred by MDOT’s New Effort

DUI related traffic deaths hope to be deterred by messages on Dynamic Message Sign.

A new statewide Michigan safety campaign will display the number of traffic fatalities on Michigan roadways thus far in 2013 on electronic signs.

The Michigan Department of Transportation hopes the signs, which will go up Wednesday and runs through November, will be noticed by motorists and reduce DUI and other traffic related casualties.

One day per month the message will be displayed on signs along road including interstates and highways.

According to MDOT, the current number of traffic deaths in Michigan is 440. State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle says that is a “startling statistic.”

Dynamic Message Signs are being used in the effort. These type of signs are typically used to display construction information or road closings. MDOT says the message on the signs is a simple and inexpensive way MDOT can contribute to a “Toward Zero Deaths” effort.

MDOT says a number of other states use similar messages on signs for the same effect.

In 2011, there were 889 DUI related fatalities in Michigan, down from 942 in 2010. One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime. Almost every 90 seconds, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash. In 2011, 9,878 people died in drunk driving crashes in the U.S. – one every 53 minutes. Every day in America, another 27 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes.