Pocono News Section

Fighting to Change the Deadly DUI Stats

Fighting to Change the Deadly DUI Stats - Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 7:00PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Tuesday, Sep 1, 2009 @ 07:00pm EST
About four in ten accidents in Pennsylvania involve alcohol. The number of deadly drunk driving crashes dropped in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties last year. But the average number of DUI deaths has remained the same for more than a decade.

Frank Yanulevius knows the pain of losing a loved one in drunk driving crash. "There is no word in the dictionary to describe what we feel. It's pain beyond your wildest imagination," he said.

Frank's daughter Sharon was killed by a drunk driver in 1995. Each year, 15 people like Sharon are killed in Luzerne County drunk driving crashes. In Lackawanna County, an average of 8 people die in DUI crashes.

Carmen Ambrosino runs Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services. He says deadly DUI crashes make headlines but don't bring home a message of change. "We lose on our roads more than we're losing in combat and yet for whatever reason we seem to have this attitude about well, enough's being done but not enough is being done," he said.

Yanulevius agrees. He's working with Ambrosino to distribute these flyers to every PennDOT licensing center.

They detail what happened to his daughter. It's an effort to steer people away from drinking and driving.

Yanulevius says DUI death statistics show people aren't taking drinking and driving seriously. "They think it's a very trivial thing but to you and your family, when you're out on the road, you won't think it's so trivial when they run into you," he said.

And Yanulvius hope his message can help dui deaths reach an all time low, so another family doesn't go through the loss he's had to endure.

PennDOT figures show Luzerne County has the highest average deadly DUI crash rate in Northeastern Pennsylvania.