Number of DWI crashes in Bexar County didn’t drop as expected amid pandemic, advocates say

SAN ANTONIO – Though bars had been closed for many of 2020 and the pandemic saved many individuals house, DWI instances didn’t drop as anticipated in Bexar County.

The pandemic shutdown didn’t decelerate the necessity for companies for victims of drunk drivers, mentioned Azeza Salama, volunteer useful resource specialist for Moms Towards Drunk Driving, or MADD, South Central Texas.

“I believe our largest concern was that we had been nonetheless having the fatalities no matter being in pre-pandemic or pandemic. We had been nonetheless seeing crashes. We had been nonetheless seeing arrests,” Salama mentioned.

Early on within the pandemic, she says everybody was optimistic that there could be fewer victims of DWI crashes.

“Going into quarantine round mid-March, I used to be considering to myself, ‘OK, effectively, we’re going to see the numbers drop.’ They usually did to a sure diploma however to not the place they need to have been,” Salama mentioned.

Based on statistics from the Bexar County District Lawyer’s Workplace, there was a slight drop in DWI instances filed between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, there have been 5,856 DWI instances filed. In 2020 there have been 4,405 instances, and there was one much less intoxication manslaughter case.

Advert

For Salama, the objective to finish drunk driving crashes is private. She misplaced her fiancé in a wrong-way driver crash and is now making an attempt to lift consciousness and do her half to spare others that grief.

She says it’s a careless determination that may be prevented if the neighborhood discouraged kin, neighbors, and pals from driving whereas drunk, irrespective of how awkward that dialog is likely to be.

For assist and sources, name MADD’s 24-hour hotline at 877-275-6233.