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Study names Toledo Ohio's drunkest city

Toledo is known as the glass capitol of the world, but now it's got another claim to fame: Toledo has been named the drunkest city in Ohio.

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Toledo is known as the glass capitol of the world, but now it's got another claim to fame, and maybe not a good one: Toledo has been named the drunkest city in Ohio.

The label is according to research compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin.

Their study found that nearly one in five Toledo residents drink excessively - the highest proportion in all of Ohio's 11 metro areas.

And just over 31 percent of driving deaths in Toledo are alcohol related.

"Just a couple weeks ago on a Friday night, my post alone arrested nine impaired drivers," said Lt. William Bowers of the Toledo post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. "That's a significant amount of drivers out there driving in and around the city of Toledo."

He says the Toledo post is second in Ohio for the number of OVI arrests. Last year, troopers busted 1,300 drivers for the offense.

Despite ongoing education programs warning about the dangers of drinking and driving, Lt. Bowers expects that number to jump to 1,400 this year.

"At any given time, there could be an impaired driver, whether it's day or night. Literally, all my daytime troopers have made impaired driving arrests," he said.

Nobody can explain why Toledo is Ohio's drunkest city, but Maren Young, a bartender at the Blarney, has a guess. She thinks people in the area drink out of boredom.

"People don't really know how to use it in moderation and it gets out of control," she said. "Before you know it, they're just not drinking on the weekend, [they're] drinking five, six, seven nights a week."

The research determined the drunkest cities in all 50 states. In Michigan, it was Monroe, Toledo's neighbor to the north.

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