MADISON, Wis. — According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), someone is hurt or killed in an impaired driving crash every two hours in Wisconsin.
A report from WisDOT also showed that in Wisconsin, one person was killed or injured in an alcohol or drug impaired crash every 2.3 hours in 2023.
A combination of both drunk driving and drugged driving is keeping the Madison police busy. There has been an increased number of people arrested for driving under the influence in Madison.
According to police reports, during the first half of 2024, there were 440 arrests for driving under the influence in Madison. That is a 3.4% increase from 2023. In 2023, there were 945 arrests for driving under the influence, marking the most arrests by Madison police for the offense in 10 years.
Statewide, there were 6,699 crashes involving impaired drivers in 2023. Those crashes left 3,577 people injured and 199 dead, per WisDOT.
Korrie Rondorf is a police officer with the City of Madison Police Department (MPD). She said arrests are on the rise, but attributed the increase to additional police presence.
“I wouldn't say it is necessarily increasing; I would just say we have had a lot more arrests this year, just because we have had a lot more officers out on the street and they are doing a lot more proactive work,” Rondorf said.
Rondorf said a large majority of arrests tend to happen during summer months.
“During the summer, people are out and about a lot more. Therefore, they are drinking and driving a lot more, especially when you have major events going on within the city,” Rondorf said.
Rick Bruess is a traffic crash investigator with MPD.
He said another reason driving under the influence arrests are increasing is many of the deputies are getting more comfortable in their positions.
“I think a lot of it comes back to officers training and their confidence in doing an OWI investigation,” Bruess said. “They are generally a little more cumbersome, a little more detailed than a typical investigation that we do.”
He said even though marijuana is illegal in Wisconsin, an increasing number of people are being arrested for drugged driving.
“Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, anything like that, and so we are having to step up our game now to recognize that portion of things and not just the alcohol anymore,” Bruess said.
)
Throughout the pandemic, MPD had reduced patrols. Rondorf said MPD plans to continue to increase its patrols to bring them back to pre-pandemic levels.
“You are going to continue to see the increase in OWI arrests, so there are options out there,” Rondorf said. “Choose a different one besides getting behind the wheel while you are drinking."