Some of you have been asking us about a recently released paper that claims a connection between smoke-free ordinances and drunk driving. There is a lot of data we still need to study to see if that theory really bears out, but we do know that Wisconsin was not included in this study. And, here is some good news: alcohol-related injuries are down in the state of Wisconsin as a whole; specifically, Dane County and the City of Madison (where there is a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance) have experienced significant decreases compared to the state average since 2005 (when Madison's ordinance went into effect). Shown in the graph below, injuries due to drunk driving since 2005 have decreased by over 6% in Wisconsin and by 9% in both Dane County and Madison.
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4 comments:
if you would be so kind, what is the source of your data?
Oops - thanks for catching that Ryan. This data is from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
One of our other readers had asked if we took Dane County out of the "State" column; he suggested that doing so would be a more accurate way to present the data.
We will post the new graph (which will probably mean a smaller decrease in the Statewide number) soon.
The updated graph has been posted.
Thanks Liz, much appreciated.
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