Alcohol-related traffic deaths in California fell in 2010 to their lowest level since 1975, when the federal government first began logging traffic fatalities.
In Sonoma County, the number of DUI fatalities actually jumped from 9 in 2009 to 16 in 2010, according to federal traffic statistics. But what appears to be a trend-defying jump may actually be the result of an anomaly in 2009 when the number of fatalities was the lowest in several years, said one Bay Area researcher.
Law enforcement officials credit operations such as DUI checkpoints, roving DUI patrols and DUI warrant sweeps to keep habitual offenders off the road for some of the decline in fatalities.
Other causes could include safer cars and roads, better driving habits and anti-DUI education campaigns.
Whatever the reason, those on the front lines of battling DUI welcomed the news.
"It's very encouraging to see such a big drop for the last few years," said Silas Miers, program specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers California. "The last four or five years, we've seen declines but nothing like what we saw last year."
In California, the number of DUI-related deaths dropped to 791 in 2010, from 950 the previous year. That's almost a 17 percent decline, according to the state office of traffic safety.
Sgt. Ken Savano, head of Petaluma's traffic enforcement division, was not happy with the number of DUI-related fatalities in Sonoma County. Savano, who heads the county-wide DUI enforcement task force known as "Avoid the 13," said it shows more work is needed.
"Although we're doing a lot in the way of public awareness and education we still have a lot of work to do," Savano said. "Clearly, each death is one too many."
On Friday evening, officers set up a DUI checkpoint in Sonoma. The checkpoint kicked off the program's holiday campaign, which will be in full swing until Jan. 2. The campaign uses the county's 13 law enforcement agencies to target DUI drivers during specific enforcement periods during the year.
In Sonoma County, the number of DUI fatalities during the campaign's four enforcement periods — the winter holidays, Memorial Day weekend, July 4 and two weeks at the end of summer — have been reduced to zero, Savano said.
The number of DUI fatalities logged by California Highway Patrol officers in Sonoma County was 11 in 2010, compared to 9 deaths in both 2009 and 2008. But this figure only includes such deaths in un-incorporated parts of the county.
CHP Officer Jon Sloat said most of Sonoma County's fatal collisions occur on rural roads, which are plentiful in the county. Sloat said the overall number of collisions has been on the decline since 2006 but have leveled off more recently.
The state figures are derived from data in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS.
The California Highway Patrol uses the Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System, or SWITRS, which has different criteria. The numbers between the two reporting systems can be different but the trends are similar.
Peter Roeper, a retired public health researcher who has tracked traffic fatality trends, said that the 16 DUI fatalities in Sonoma County reported by FARS are in line with the number of deaths from previous years. In 2006, there were 18 DUI fatalities, 19 in 2007, 13 in 2008 and 9 in 2009.
Roeper said 2009 appeared to be "the anomaly" because the number of fatalities was unusually low.
"Overall sixteen is not inconsistent with the general trend," he said.
Another indication that Sonoma County's roadways are becoming safer is highlighted in the FARS report. The overall number of traffic deaths have steadily declined, from 44 in 2006, 51 in 2007 35 in 2008, 29 in 2009 and 28 in 2010.
On the Web site, cacrash.org/f9109.html, Roeper charts traffic fatality trends. One set of charts compares the number of overall traffic deaths to alcohol-related traffic deaths. Both charts show similar declines. In fact, the drop in the overall number of traffic deaths from 2008 to 2009, 10 percent, was slightly greater than that for alcohol-related deaths during the same period, 9 percent.
The overall decline in traffic deaths suggests that factors beyond traffic enforcement are behind fewer fatalities on California roadways.
"There are a variety of explanations for why the number of crashes have gone down," Roeper said.
He said Californians are driving safer and roadways are safer. Also, cars are designed with more safety features, with better suspension systems, safer tires and life-saving air-bag systems.
"Those are the design features that may have caused things to do down," he said.
Roeper said that it's possible that law enforcement efforts such as DUI checkpoints are having "an effect for all drivers," not just drunken drivers. But he said that "overall, it is difficult to strongly demonstrate that DUI interventions are having a very dramatic effect."
Last month, the Petaluma police department was awarded a one-year $300,000 state traffic safety grant to continue its work as the lead law enforcement agency for the Avoid the 13 campaign.
Savano said the unprecedented decline in the state's DUI fatality rate was heartening, a trend he would like to duplicate in Sonoma County.
"This clearly shows that in Sonoma County we need to continue our efforts," he said.
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