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Editor: Bob Battle
Profession: DUI Defense Lawyer

Category: DUI DUIrony

Virginia lawmakers may someday learn their efforts to taper one vice in public could lead to an increase in another - driving under the influence.

A recent study published in the Journal of Public Economics -- "Drunk driving after the passage of smoking bans in bars" - hints at an association between smoking and excessive drinking.

In addition, The Economist reports smoking bans have shown a correlation with an increase in DUI-related auto accidents. Supposedly, smokers will travel farther to bars which permit smoking. In turn, this leads to more DUI incidents since smokers have longer distances to drive home.

Scott Adams, PhD, assistant professor of the Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Chad Cotti, PhD, assistant clinical professor at the Department of Economics - Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina researched for two years and found smoking bans increased alcohol-related fatalities by 13% in a county of 680,000 people. That increase amounts to 2.5 fatal accidents and 6 deaths. Cotti found 90 percent of alcoholics smoke, they drink more if they can't smoke and smoking slows down alcohol's effect of on the body. Their study analyzed data in 2,400 counties, 100 of which had smoking bans

This data wasn't derived from behavior following recent smoking bans in bars across the country. Adams and Cotti found DUI-related fatalities rose 19% in venues where bans had been instituted for at least 18 months.

Adams and Cotti also found when one geographic location installed a smoking ban in bars, DUI-related accidents increased in neighboring locations. For instance, DUI-related accidents in Delaware County, Pennsylvania increased by 26% after neighboring Delaware implemented a smoking ban in 2002. After a ban went into place in Boulder County, Colorado, fatal accidents involving DUI cases rose by 40% in nearby Jefferson County.