http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=496631
As reported in a 2001 article, Cultural Impact, from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):“…when you combine the Hispanic drinking culture with the lack of education on drunk driving prevention, you end up with tragic consequences.”
The article goes on, “According to research compiled by Dr. Catherine Clark of the Alcohol Policy Group in Berkeley, Calif., Hispanic drivers are more likely than Anglo drivers to consume more alcohol more frequently and have been shown to be more likely than Anglos to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level over .05 percent.” MADD’s data indicate that 42% of all traffic fatalities involved alcohol, the percentage is increasing, and Hispanics as a group are involved at a much higher rate than their portion of the population.
As noted in a 2003 article in the Austin American Statesmen, A troubling trend: Hispanics and DWI - Latinos account for nearly half of 2002 Austin arrests:
“Of 3,007 drunken driving arrests in 2002, 43 percent involved Hispanic men, even though they make up only about 11 percent of Austin’s driving population.
Including women, Hispanics made up 47 percent of the DWI arrests but only 21 percent of Austin drivers.
…Statewide, 42 percent of the people arrested in 2002 for driving while intoxicated were Latino, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
In Austin, 46 percent of the people arrested for drunk driving from 1999 to 2002 were Latino, according to the Austin Police Department.”
The impact of illegal Hispanic aliens on the law-abiding Hispanic portion of the DWI statistics is mostly unknown but it is probably sizable and giving the Hispanic community a bad reputation.
My brother is a police officer in a city that has a large Hispanic (mostly Mexican) population. The cops joke that they can tell if a Mexican is drunk by what kind of hat he is wearing. If he has a baseball cap on he is working and likely sober, but if he has a cowboy hat on he is partying and likely drunk.