During the 1980s and 1990s, important
progress was made toward reducing serious crashes and deaths involving
drivers under the influence of alcohol. According to a recent publication
by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), worldwide
progress has stalled and hasnt revived. Making further progress
will require new ways of thinking about existing countermeasures
and incorporating new technology. To read IIHSs special Status
Report on the alcohol-impaired driving problem worldwide and what
to do about it, click on http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4004.pdf.
A joint study by researchers at the University of Florida and
the University of Minnesota indicates that the greatest deterrent
to sale of alcohol to minors is regular police enforcement of
liquor laws within licensed establishments. Results of the 5-year
national study show that consistent, regular enforcement is necessary
to deter alcohol sales to minors. The results of the study appear
in the March 2005 edition of Addiction. To view the abstract,
click on http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.00973.x/abs/.
The June 10, 2004 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
(Vol. 53:21, pp. 452-454) contains an analysis of a Concord,
New Hampshire, enforcement campaign. The program has three
components: quarterly compliance checks from 2002 to 2004, increased
penalties for noncompliance, and media coverage of the enforcement
campaign. The campaign resulted in a 64 percent reduction in retail
alcohol sales to underage youths and was associated with declines
in alcohol use and binge drinking among Concord high school students.
The full MMWR report is at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5321a2.htm.
Research results released by the Pacific Institute for Research
and Evaluation show that if law enforcement agencies used sobriety
checkpoints more often and more effectively, deaths and crashes
caused by drunk driving could be reduced by 20 percent. The study
discusses how to improve the use of checkpoints (e.g., increase
publicity in local media, conduct checkpoints more often such as
weekly, deploy fewer officers at checkpoints, and use passive alcohol
sensors, which can be installed in flashlights). The report was
published in the September 2004 issue of Traffic Injury Prevention.
For more information, see http://releases.usnewswire.com/getrelease.asp?id=36600.
