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The upper Midwest has the worst drunken
driving rates in the country, according to a government report that
says 15 percent of adult drivers nationally report driving under
the influence of alcohol in the previous year.

Wisconsin leads the way. The federal government estimates more
than a quarter of the state's adult drivers had driven under the
influence. Rounding out the worst five are North Dakota, Minnesota,
Nebraska and South Dakota.

Utah had the lowest incidence of drunken driving. It was the
only state where fewer than 10 percent of adult motorists reported
driving under the influence. 

Following closely behind were a slew
of Southern states that often fare poorly when it comes to
government health statistics.

This time, however, they're serving
as models. West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky and North Carolina all
had drunken driving rates for the prior year of less than 11
percent.

The report on drunken driving relies on data obtained from the
National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey asked 127,283
adults in 2004, 2005 and 2006 whether they had driven under the
influence in the past year.

Health experts say the state-by-state breakdowns support other
surveys showing that residents in northern states are more likely
to engage in heavy alcohol consumption.

"It's not surprising, but it means that these jurisdictions
should take this data and think about how they approach public
education campaigns and enforcement campaigns," said Dr. H.
Westley Clark of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.

Clark said states with the lowest rates for driving under the
influence shouldn't take comfort in the data.

"Even in Utah, which reported the nation's lowest rate, nearly
one in 10 drivers report driving under the influence of alcohol
within the past year," Clark said. "So, even in states that have
low consumption rates or low DUI rates, they too need to reflect on
the approach they're taking. We don't want people to lull
themselves into a false sense of security."

It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent
or higher.

In the past decade, the number of impaired drivers involved in
alcohol-related crashes has remained relatively stable - from
12,348 in 1996 to 12,491 in 2006. Those figures cover drivers with
a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher.

The federal government also released estimates of driving under
the influence of illicit drugs. The rates were highest in the
District of Columbia, 7 percent; Rhode Island, 6.8 percent; and
Massachusetts, 6.4 percent.

The states with the lowest rates for driving under the influence
of illicit drugs within the past year were New Jersey, 3.2 percent;
Alabama, 3.4 percent; and North Dakota and South Dakota, 3.5
percent.

Gallery

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Disasters

Health

The upper Midwest has the worst drunken
driving rates in the country, according to a government report, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The worst five are Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

DWIs highest in Midwest; Minnesota is third

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