DPS: Fewer Impaired-Related Traffic Deaths In 2014

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Fewer people are driving drunk and causing fatal accidents, according to new statistics from Minnesota's Department of Public Safety.

According to the new report, called "Minnesota Impaired Driving Facts 2014", impaired-related traffic fatalities dropped to 91 in 2014, compared with 121 in 2010. That's a 25 percent decrease.

It's a continuation of a five-year downward trend.

"The trends are encouraging, but for a family who's suffering a horrible loss because of a drunk driver, it's small comfort when more than 25,000 drunk drivers are still on the road, doing the exact same thing that killed their loved one," Donna Berger, Office of Traffic Safety director, said. "More Minnesotans are making the smart choice, and we ask drivers to 'join the crowd' and plan a sober ride before going out with friends and family."

Drunken driving arrests are down, too. In 2014, 25,258 motorists were arrested for DWI, compared with 26,012 in 2013. Since 2006, there has been a 40 percent decrease in DWI arrests.

The DPS says one in every seven licensed drivers in Minnesota has at least one DWI. One in four traffic deaths are drunk driving-related.