The 2010 DUI Wrap-Up (Updated)

News February 9, 2011 at 12:01 pm Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

UPDATE: The Washington State Liquor Control Board provided us with incorrect DUI data. We’ve updated the numbers below. Some bars had more, some had less. And a few bars managed to narrowly slip off the list. Here’s the now-correct info from the WSCLB.

Did you know the Washington State Liquor Control Board keeps an unofficial record of how many DUIs are (allegedly) associated with every bar in the state?

It’s true!

We asked the WSLCB for these records last week so we could see which Seattle bar has the alleged high score. But, before we get in to the numbers, here’s a little disclaimer from the WSLCB:

The DUI tracking inquiry statistical data is based on DUI arrest reports. The last drink location is subjective in nature — due to the person’s ability, or lack of ability, to recall information or fact – and should be used with caution to indicate trends over time.

The information comes to WSLCB via the Washington State Patrol (WSP). The WSP collects its own DUI information as well as receives reports from local law enforcement. When stopped for DUI, the suspect is asked the last place they drank. Their response is completely voluntary.

Some important points:

·         This is just one tool that WSLCB enforcement officers use to enforce Washington’s liquor laws.

·         This information is hearsay and would not be admissible in court.

·         Some local law enforcement agencies report this information more consistently than others.

OK, now that that’s out of the way, here’s the 2010 Top 15* DUI list for Seattle:

Noc Noc (Downtown)-8

Essence (formerly Tia Lou’s, Belltown)-9

Belltown Billiards (Belltown)-9

Joey’s (South Lake Union)-10

Nectar (Fremont)-11

Peso’s (Queen Anne)-11

Amber (Belltown)-11

See Sound Lounge (Belltown)-11

Last Supper Club (Pioneer Square)-12

Trinity (Pioneer Square)-13

Showbox SoDo-15

Venom (Belltown)-16

Qwest Field (SoDo)-17

Safeco-18

And in first place?

Earls on the Ave

With a whopping 20.

Is it fair to extrapolate anything from this list? Maybe not. That’s why the WSLCB doesn’t use these numbers in an official capacity.

But we finally have conclusive proof that while you don’t need to be drunk to watch the Mariners, it certainly helps.

*Why 15? Because that’s how many Seattle bars had 8 or more associated DUIs, according to WSLCB records.

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a betting man

how long it takes the lookout to top the list.
Forrest

that would put the Stadiums at the “least likely to get a DUI when drinking at” end of the spectrum… if this could in any way be qualitatively assessed.
bus

…based on this list. Other than the stadiums, bars that fratboys and eastsiders go to rank highest.
Lorri

but the place across the street where people pre-show grossly overserves. I made a mistake and questioned a bartender about the condition of a couple of women who were obviously drunk and he screamed at me to mind my own business, cut me off and had me escorted out. Later at the show those same two ladies spent more time on the floor than standing.
don’t stand for it

seriously, report this. i drive the streets of this city both alone on a motorcycle, and with my little child in a car. please, make a report here: http://liq.wa.gov/enforcement/report-violaton

if this blog scrubs the url out of my response, paste this in your address bar: liq.wa.gov/enforcement/report-violaton
lies, damn lies, and statistic

From a mathematical perspective, the data in this list are a poor indication of where people are drinking prior to their DUIs. This list just provides raw numbers and doesn’t reflect a more important measurement that tells us about which bars are causing problems: the RATE of DUIs. Let’s compare two bars at opposite ends of the list: Safeco and Noc Noc.

Let’s start with Noc Noc. How many individuals set foot in this bar and had a drink in 2010? I don’t know. But 9 DUIs are connected to this place.

Let’s continue with Safeco. Attendance for all 2010 home games was 2,085,488 people (source: http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance). 21 DUIs are connected to this place. So approximately 1 in every 10,000 fans at Safeco was hit with a DUI. But lots of fans at Mariners’ games are underage and not drinking. Assuming that the number of drinking fans at games is 1/3 of total fans, this is still about 700,000 people. So more realistically the rate for DUIs at Safeco is 1 in every 3,000 drinking fans.

Now let’s assume that every single person who goes into Noc Noc drinks. In order for Noc Noc to have the same RATE of DUIs as Safeco (1 DUI per 3,000 people), Noc Noc would need to have 300,000 patrons in 2010. That works out to about 822 patrons per day assuming no holiday closures. Put another way, that’s about half the population of the city of Seattle.

The question then becomes, if Noc Noc averages fewer than 822 patrons per night then that bar generates a higher rate of DUIs than does Safeco. Noc Noc is a small place and I’m not sure it sees that much traffic. Maybe it does. If an employee sat at the door with a counter tallying patrons then we would know.

In short, don’t read anything into the total number of DUIs associated with a bar. That’s not very useful information. A better understanding of how bars rate in terms of DUIs is to compare the rates at which their patrons are caught.
Arch

Great analysis!
82ndParatrooper

The analsysis also doesn’t take into account the time of day for DUI patrols. One would assume that they are normally around 2am, when traffic is lower and drunks are leaving bars and can be easily spotted.

Just sayin’, the statistics don’t show that either. Not to mention cops may be less likely to pull over sports fans after games. Just look at how many people tailgate (which is illegal) and wander through SODO before games with beers in their hands. That doesn’t fly near Pike Place.
JeanineA

There is additional bias in what areas are more frequently patrolled than others. Not all areas and neighborhoods are patrolled equally, thus the city wide comparisons are interesting but not appropriate from one neighborhood to the next.
paul

Your math is wrong: 2.1 million / 21 = 100,000.
So thats 1 DUI in every 100,000 at Safeco.

So, in fact, the statistics are even more misleading than you state.
dabrosky

The reason Noc Noc is so high on the list is that it’s an after hours club. People go there to dance until early in the morning. People who go to after hours parties are probably more drunk and leave the club when all the other partiers from other bars have gone home. There are few people out at 4-7AM on a Sat or Sun morning and they attract attention to themselves. Also, places like Earls, Pesos, Last Supper club attract the hip hop crowd, frat kids, young 20 somethings with loud sports cars, bachelerotte parties, etc. and they are more likely to party hard. Also, minorities and young people are less likely to know their legal rights and talk to the police about where they were.

Viva La Cola!

The 2010 DUI Wrap-Up (Updated)