2008 Woodie Awards
Drunk driving arrests on the rise at UMass
Katie Huston, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
April McNally, a University Health Services (UHS) health educator, agreed that increased enforcement is driving the numbers up.
"It's not that more students are drinking and driving," she said. "It's that those who are drinking and driving have a better chance of being caught. If students hear that there have been more DUI arrests in recent years, hopefully that will persuade them not to get behind the wheel if they have been drinking."
McNally believes that most UMass students behave responsibly when drinking.
"Most of our students don't drink and drive, which we're happy about," she said.
According to 2007 data from the "Social Norms" campaign survey, run by UHS, 77 percent of UMass students have not driven under the influence in the past year, and 73 percent have not gotten into a car with someone who is drunk.
If 75 percent of people aren't doing it, though, 25 percent of people are, according to survey data. McNally says students may not feel susceptible to being in an accident or being arrested.
"There's that sense of, 'well, it's just a mile down the road, or I don't feel that drunk,'" McNally said. "But the first thing to be affected when you're drinking is your reason and judgment and inhibition. With any amount of alcohol sometimes you think you're okay, but you're really not."
Archbald says UMass is probably comparable to other colleges as far as OUI arrests.
"UMass is probably typical, but it's still more of an issue than in the average community," he said. "It's a high concentration of young people who are experimenting for the first time with alcohol."
Despite the increase, UMass's police log is still significantly lower than that of the University of Connecticut, which is of comparable size.
In 2006, 174 people were arrested for driving while intoxicated, up from 158 in 2004 and 101 in 2005, according to the UConn Police Department's Web site.
Students caught driving under the influence face severe consequences. In 2005, Massachusetts introduced Melanie's Law, which created harsher penalties for OUI arrests. A first offense can result in a one-year license suspension, up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, or a fine between $500 and $5,000.
"It's not that more students are drinking and driving," she said. "It's that those who are drinking and driving have a better chance of being caught. If students hear that there have been more DUI arrests in recent years, hopefully that will persuade them not to get behind the wheel if they have been drinking."
McNally believes that most UMass students behave responsibly when drinking.
"Most of our students don't drink and drive, which we're happy about," she said.
According to 2007 data from the "Social Norms" campaign survey, run by UHS, 77 percent of UMass students have not driven under the influence in the past year, and 73 percent have not gotten into a car with someone who is drunk.
If 75 percent of people aren't doing it, though, 25 percent of people are, according to survey data. McNally says students may not feel susceptible to being in an accident or being arrested.
"There's that sense of, 'well, it's just a mile down the road, or I don't feel that drunk,'" McNally said. "But the first thing to be affected when you're drinking is your reason and judgment and inhibition. With any amount of alcohol sometimes you think you're okay, but you're really not."
Archbald says UMass is probably comparable to other colleges as far as OUI arrests.
"UMass is probably typical, but it's still more of an issue than in the average community," he said. "It's a high concentration of young people who are experimenting for the first time with alcohol."
Despite the increase, UMass's police log is still significantly lower than that of the University of Connecticut, which is of comparable size.
In 2006, 174 people were arrested for driving while intoxicated, up from 158 in 2004 and 101 in 2005, according to the UConn Police Department's Web site.
Students caught driving under the influence face severe consequences. In 2005, Massachusetts introduced Melanie's Law, which created harsher penalties for OUI arrests. A first offense can result in a one-year license suspension, up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, or a fine between $500 and $5,000.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 8
Chris Smith
posted 4/11/08 @ 9:24 AM EST
The problem is self-imposed by the school as they centralize police efforts around campus and in the direct vicinity of campus, more partygoers are forced into the surrounding neighborhoods, off of the buslines. (Continued…)
UMass student
posted 4/11/08 @ 10:57 AM EST
Was the person driving the car pictured on the front page being charged with drunk driving? If it's just a picture of someone getting a speeding ticket, you need to make that known, just blurring out the license plate doesn't fix it. (Continued…)
Michael McDuff
posted 4/13/08 @ 11:45 PM EST
Crack down more? More cops is not the answer. Although I think that is probably a large part of the increase in dui's, lets not be stupid and focus on punishing people or catching more people, let's actually try to alleviate the problem. (Continued…)
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