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National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
Every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
This December, during National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month (3D Month), consider what you and your community can do to make injuries and death from impaired driving less of a threat.
The Problem
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives.
- In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
- In one year, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
- Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol.
- Half of the 306 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2006 were riding with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher.
- In 2006, 45 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or bicyclists were hit by alcohol-impaired drivers.
- Alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion a year.
- Plan ahead. Always designate a non-drinking driver before any holiday party or celebration begins.
- Take the keys. Do not let a friend drive if they are impaired.
- Be a helpful host. If you’re hosting a party this holiday season, remind your guests to plan ahead and designate their sober driver, always offer alcohol-free beverages, and make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.
- Sobriety checkpoints. Studies found that fatal crashes thought to involve alcohol dropped by about 22% following implementation of sobriety checkpoints.
- Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws. Studies found that raising the MLDA to 21 reduced crashes by about 16% among people ages 18-20 years.
- .08% BAC laws. Fatal alcohol-related crashes declined about 7% after .08% BAC laws were passed.
- “Zero tolerance” laws for young drivers. Three studies found that zero tolerance laws resulted in declines in fatal crashes among drivers ages 18-20 years of between 9% and 24%.
Who is at risk?
- Male drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes are almost twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or greater.
- Young people
- Motorcyclists
- Drivers with prior driving while impaired (DWI) convictions
Effective measures include:
- Aggressively enforcing existing .08% BAC laws, minimum legal drinking age laws, and zero tolerance laws for drivers younger than 21 years old in all states.
- Promptly revoking the driver’s licenses of people who drive while intoxicated.
- Utilizing sobriety check points.
- Implementing health promotion efforts that use an ecological framework to influence economic, organizational, policy, and school / community action.
- Using multi-faceted community-based approaches to alcohol control and DUI prevention.
- Requiring mandatory substance abuse assessment and treatment for driving-under-the-influence offenders.
Other suggested measure include:
- Reducing the legal limit for blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) to .05%.
- Raising state and federal alcohol excise taxes.
- Implementing compulsory blood alcohol testing when
traffic crashes result in injury.
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