by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY. Wed. Dec. 11, 2024
Over 200 persons were arrested by personnel of the Belize Police Department between January and November 2024, for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol.
That number, 200 arrested, may seem high to us, but with a population of around 400,000 that gives an arrest rate of 0.05 % in Belize, which measures poorly in comparison to the state of California, USA, which has a population of roughly 39 million persons and saw an average of more than 340 DUI arrests daily in 2023, resulting in a total of 125,000 persons arrested for the year, giving an arrest rate of 0.32% of the population. Comparing the arrest rate, 0.32% versus 0.05%, shows that the arrest rate in California is 6 times that in Belize. This laxity in monitoring and arresting drivers who are DUI in Belize may be a clue to our high level of deaths by traffic accidents.
Information to Amandala suggests that our fatalities from vehicular accidents have risen by at least 20% over the past couple years. 2023 ended with 89 fatalities, and with still a few weeks remaining in 2024, the year has already seen 110 deaths by vehicular accidents. While it is not known how many of those 110 deaths were attributed to drunk driving, a comparison with the relative number of deaths by vehicle accidents in California would suggest that increasing arrests for DUI might have an effect in reducing the number of traffic fatalities.
Traffic accident deaths attributable to DUI in California totaled approximately 4,000 in 2023, which is a mortality rate of 0.01% of the population. By comparison, if all 89 traffic related deaths in Belize in 2023 were due to DUI, that would translate to 0.02% of our population, which is double the mortality rate from DUI traffic accidents in California.
Our police/traffic officers have been more assertive in arrests in 2024, so far arresting 215 persons for DUI, but that arrest rate (0.054 %) is still far behind California’s 0.32% which is 6 times the arrest rate in Belize.
The 215 arrests for DUI so far this year throughout the country shows that Orange Walk District is leading the statistics.
The number of arrests per precinct or municipality so far this year is as follows:
Orange Walk District – 54; Benque Viejo Del Carmen Town – 30; San Pedro Town – 26; the four precincts in Belize City – 24; Ladyville – 20; San Ignacio/Santa Elena – 16; Toledo District – 14; Corozal District and Dangriga Town – 8; Belmopan – 6; Intermediate Southern Formation (ISF) – 4; Mahogany Heights and Hattieville – 3; Placencia – 2; Caye Caulker and Roaring Creek – 0.
The Police Department and the Transport Department have announced that they are stepping up their efforts to monitor drivers on our roads and highways to try and reduce the number of deaths caused by vehicular accidents.