WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Transportation Department says alcohol-impaired driving fatalities increased 13 percent in Washington from 2008 to 2009 while total traffic fatalities declined 5.6 percent.
A report released Wednesday by the department showed 492 fatalities in the state in 2009, compared with 521 the year before. And of those, alcohol-related fatalities increased from 183 to 206.
Nationally, traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent and the number of alcohol-related fatalities fell 7.4 percent.
