LatinaLista — If it’s March, tis the season of Spring Break when college students everywhere participate in extreme partying and extreme drinking. Then there are those people who don’t need the excuse of Spring Break to drink at all.
While historically it’s always been men who comprise the majority of “driving while intoxicated” or DWI mujeres have caught up a little too fast to their drunk peers.
In New Mexico, it’s reported that nearly one quarter of the DWI arrests in the state are women, who account for 20 percent of alcohol-involved driver deaths.
According to state officials:
Statistics show that in 2006 women in New Mexico engaged in more than 300,000 alcohol- impaired driving episodes. In 2007, almost 1 in 20 female binge drinkers reported driving after drinking an average of almost six drinks.
For that reason, the state has launched a special DWI campaign targeting women.
Women Drive Drunk, Too was launched on March 13 and will run through the end of the month via various media throughout the state. Aimed at educating women about the risks and consequences of driving while drunk, the campaign is in both Spanish and English.
However, the problem of more women driving drunk isn’t unique to New Mexico. The whole nation would benefit from a campaign that recognizes an alarming situation among more girls and women.
