The city has seen its lowest number of incidents of driving under the influence (DUI) in years, according to the Naperville Police Department. With 125 reported last year, that’s down from 171 from the year before and nearly one-fifth of what it was 15 years ago. In 2008, the number of DUIs reported exceeded 600.
Reasons behind the decline
At the city’s first liquor commission meeting of the year, Detective Martin Creighton, Liquor and Tobacco Liaison for the Naperville Police Department, gave a report on the DUI matter. He attributed the steep decrease over the years to a number of factors, including more options for people to consider to get home after a night out, such as rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, the costliness associated with getting a DUI charge being a deterrent, the police department’s anti drinking and driving campaign, and better BASSET training for bartenders.
“I want to give a shout out to the younger generation because I think it’s just absolutely unacceptable for people to drink and drive now,” said Commissioner Kelly Douglas, adding that they’re abiding by that and making smart choices.
More DUI Data
Detective Creighton provided NCTV17 with the total number of DUI’s reported for each year over the past 15 years:
- 2008 – 622
- 2009 – 578
- 2010 — 662
- 2011 — 621
- 2012 – 574
- 2013 – 550
- 2014 – 384
- 2015 – 369
- 2016 – 276
- 2017 – 212
- 2018 – 216
- 2019 – 242
- 2020 – 157
- 2021 – 143
- 2022 – 171
- 2023 – 125
Differentiating the data
The data doesn’t differentiate between the causes of impairment when driving under the influence, such as whether it was due to alcohol or to other drugs like marijuana. However, when Mayor Scott Wehrli asked if that was possible to start doing, Detective Creighton said it is something he’ll look into, breaking down the differences in substance use behind the DUIs.
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