Investigation discovers DUI hotspots across the state
A lot of individuals fear of being on the road and getting in a crash with someone driving under the influence of an intoxicant such as alcohol or drugs. In an NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters exclusive, the chief investigative reporter, Mr. Len Besthoff, determined hundreds of crashes across the state and also identified some places where the chances of finding drunk drivers are possibly high.
A girl named Shelly Martinez, who was travelling in a truck, was hit on Route 2 at the Preston/Norwich town line by a driver who was highly drunk. Martinez said, “I remember vividly tossing, tossing, tossing, and when I felt my neck snap, I knew I was gonna die.” But still she survived and after six years she has rods in her neck and she has to take medicines to live a productive life. She said, “I am now put together with wires and screws, and it also hurt both my knees. Both my knees had to be replaced eventually”.
The Troubleshooters drilled down into the crash data from the Department of transportation and found that from 2010 to 2012, approximately five thousand driving under influence crashes happened in the state. In some of the areas which are very busy like downtown New Haven, individuals can actually expect a lot of driving under the influence crashes.
Four hotspots were found: a stretch of I-91 from exits 3 through 6, Chapel Street near Wooster Square, a multi-block area in and around New Haven Green and the area near the intersection of Whaley Avenue and Sherman Parkway, totaling more than four dozen (driving under influence) DUI related crashes in a time period of 3 years.
The executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Janice Heggie-Marlogis said, “What the clusters show me is there are certainly areas in Connecticut that are more worrisome than others. One would think that perhaps there were certainly areas where there might be more crashes and more arrests and more fatalities, but until you really look at the paperwork you couldn’t believe the different areas where this might be”.
From 2010 to 2012, the greatest areas of Hartfort also have their own share of driving under influence crash hotspots.
In the last three years from 2010 to 2013, Berlin had nine crashes that occurred at the intersection of route 9, Berlin Turnpike and Route 372.
At the airport road, a total of nine driving under influence crashes occurred.
Around the exits of 47 and 48 on l-91, more than two collisions that involved driving under the influence were reported in Enfield.
Mr. Squires said, “You have a lot of traffic coming in and off the highway. You also have some commercial districts here with a lot of driveways, private drives, entering on to Route 220 and Route 190. So it does make it challenging for traffic.”
Norwich has almost five dozen driving under the influence crashes.
The data shows only one array near the exit of 82 on l-395 and the other one is near Backus hospital.
In downtown Norwich, three more clusters were shown which also involve the intersection of Routes 2, 32 and 82. From Preston, the north main streets and Route 2 are leading and they also had an excessive number of DUI related incidents.
Near coast guard academy and Connecticut College, in London, there were more than half a dozen driving under the influence related crashes. 15 accidents related to driving under the influence have been seen (between 2010 to 2012) at the interstate near exit 83 and 84.
News Source: www.NBCConnecticut.com
