DUI fatalities down in region

While some Pennsylvania counties have seen a rise in DUI fatalities, that’s not the case in Chester and Delaware counties. In this area, DUI fatalities have decreased. That’s the word from ValuePenguin.com, a Lending Tree company.

According to the company’s report, the five worst large counties for DUI fatalities are Monroe, Butler, Dauphin, Centre and Luzerne counties. Monroe County leads the list with 4.51 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties are among the most improved. Of those three, Montgomery County dropped from 1.33 DUI fatalities per 100,000 people — from 2012-2014 — to 0.71 — during 2015-2017 — a 46.88 percent improvement.

Chester County ranks 47th on the list with 1.47 DUI fatalities an improvement of 37.14 percent, while Delaware County, with 0.83 DUI deaths, saw an 87.5 percent improvement.

Of the 60 counties, only Warren County had zero DUI fatalities during the 2015-2017 time frame.

Ranked from the most to the least, Susquehanna County is the worst with 7.69 DUI deaths. Chester County came in at number 47, Bucks 49, Philadelphia County at 51, Delaware County is 55thand Montgomery County ranks at number 58.

Divya Sangam, the communications director for ValuePenguin, said the company began looking at DUIs to see how they impact insurance rates. “[I]n Pennsylvania, a single DUI conviction can increase your auto insurance premiums by almost 50 percent. However, our research sources also included fatality stats, and we thought that merited a closer look. Our report is meant as a timely reminder to drivers to be careful on the roads, and not drink and drive, especially as warmer weather is upon us.”

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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