STATE News:ALBUQUERQUE ― Gov. Susana Martinez has announced that New Mexico saw a 36-year low in the number of DWI deaths that occurred on New Mexico roadways last year.
In 2015, there were 122 DWI deaths – a 28 percent decrease from 2014. This marks a 70 percent decrease since 1979, the year New Mexico started tracking DWI fatalities.
“DWI has been a major problem in our state for a long time. I’m encouraged by this progress. A 36-year low in DWI deaths is a big deal. But our greatest challenge remains: ending drunk driving for good and getting that number to zero,” Martinez said. “We still have a lot of work to do. Every one of those 122 deaths was a terrible tragedy for mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, families, and friends all across our state. One death due to DWI is one too many.”
Martinez has made fighting DWI one of her top priorities. Recently, she signed Senate Bill 118, which cracks down on the worst repeat DWI offenders and substantially increases penalties for drunk drivers who kill someone on the road. In fact, the new penalty for driving drunk and killing someone will be one of the highest in the region.
And last year, Martinez also enacted a series of executive initiatives to crack down on drunk drivers. These include: saturation patrols on our deadliest highways; targeting repeat offenders and the establishments that over-serve them; a court monitoring program that will place citizens inside courtrooms in five counties to shed light on how DWI cases are handled; and an ongoing roundup of DWI fugitives.
In addition, Martinez rolled out a series of television ads last year featuring New Mexico State Police officers sharing their personal stories of coming face-to-face with the real and horrible consequences of drunk driving. To view these new ads, visit here.
“These statistics are encouraging because they show we’ve made a lot of progress over the years. But our work isn’t done until we completely eliminate DWI in New Mexico,” said New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassetas. “It’s so simple – if you’ve been drinking, don’t get behind the wheel of a car.”