There were a lot of different records used to produce the story about regulations in Texas that lead to a large amount of DWI fatalities. Reporter Jeremy Rogalski found out that the agency that is supposed to oversee and regulate the bars is instead focusing on taxes and other issues related to state revenue. Rogalski also found out about a law called "Safe Harbor," a program that gives bars immunity from civil and state penalties when they over-serve a drunk person, even if that leads to injuries or deaths associated with drunk driving. Rogalski needed to have computer skills to do this reporting, by getting information on the laws related to bars and how much they can serve. He also had to contact the agency that is in charge of regulating bars to get information from them. He also had to receive the different counties in Texas and their DWI rates and information on the regulations of the bars in counties in Texas.
Source:
http://www.ire.org/extraextra/broadcast/lax-regulations-in-texas-lead-to-record-dwi-fatalities
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