Okinawa Prefectural Police announced that Okinawa had the worst rate in Japan of drinking and driving accidents, and people getting hurt as a result, during the period from January through April this year.

Okinawa has had the dubious distinction of holding the first place in those statistics for 23 consecutive years since 1990, and is, according to police, well on its way to keeping the worst place again this year as the trend seems to be continuing.

According to Okinawa Prefectural Police, most of persons who are caught drinking and driving are in their 20’s to 30’s. They say that there still seems to be plenty of people who think it’s OK to get behind the wheel after having one or two beers or other alcoholic drinks, but emphasize that such assumption often leads to serious accidents.

There were total 2,146 traffic related injuries reported in Okinawa from Jan. through Apr., and 23 of those were related to drinking. The number is 2.6 times higher than the average in Japan, and three in 15 resulted in deaths, which is 2.8 times the national average.

According to a survey of people who were apprehended for drinking and driving, most were caught between 6 to 10 a.m. Police say most of those are cases of people driving after a night of drinking and then having a few hours sleep and getting behind the wheel without realizing that alcohol has not disappeared from their system yet.

The most common comment police officers hear is that “I though maybe its Ok to drive because I had only such a small amount.”

Police warn that people who are drinking and driving could seriously injure your family, and this is a really serious issue. Please not drink and drive, and if you drink, don’t drive. If you drive, don’t drink.

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