Despite decades of progress, more than 10 000 alcohol-related driving fatalities occur each year, and that number is increasing. Alcohol impairment remains the leading cause of traffic deaths: Approximately 30% involve 1 or more drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above state limits for driving, and 50% involve a BAC above 0. To identify ways of reinvigorating efforts to reduce this trend, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to form a committee to study the problem. The committee's report (1) makes recommendations based on that rigorous study.
Getting to 0 sounds ...
References
- 1.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine . Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2017. Google Scholar - 2.
Rosencrantz H ,Edvardsson S ,Hansson O . Vision Zero—is it irrational? Transp Res Part A Policy Pract. 2007;41:559-67. CrossrefGoogle Scholar - 3. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. U.S. DOT, National Safety Council launch ‘Road to Zero' Coalition to end roadway fatalities. 2016. Accessed at www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/us-dot-national-safety-council-launch-road-zero-coalition-end-roadway-fatalities on 16 November 2017. Google Scholar
- 4.
Elder RW ,Lawrence B ,Ferguson A ,Naimi TS ,Brewer RD ,Chattopadhyay SK ,et al ;Task Force on Community Preventive Services . The effectiveness of tax policy interventions for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. Am J Prev Med. 2010;38:217-29. [PMID:20117579 ] doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2009.11.005 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar - 5.
Mann RE ,Macdonald S ,Stoduto LG ,Bondy S ,Jonah B ,Shaikh A . The effects of introducing or lowering legal per se blood alcohol limits for driving: an international review. Accid Anal Prev. 2001;33:569-83. [PMID:11491238 ] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar - 6.
Fell JC ,Scherer M . Estimation of the potential effectiveness of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving from 0.08 to 0.05 grams per deciliter in the United States. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2017;41:2128-39. [PMID:29064571 ] doi:10.1111/acer.13501 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar - 7.
Elder RW ,Voas R ,Beirness D ,Shults RA ,Sleet DA ,Nichols JL ,et al ;Task Force on Community Preventive Services . Effectiveness of ignition interlocks for preventing alcohol-impaired driving and alcohol-related crashes: a Community Guide systematic review. Am J Prev Med. 2011;40:362-76. [PMID:21335270 ] doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2010.11.012 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar - 8. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Final recommendation statement: alcohol misuse: screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care. 2013. Accessed at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/RecommendationStatementFinal/alcohol-misuse-screening-and-behavioral-counseling-interventions-in-primary-care on 27 October 2017. Google Scholar
Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, and Public Health Institute, Oakland, California (S.M.T.)
Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts (T.S.N.)
Acknowledgment: The authors thank the National Academies Committee and National Academies staff who worked tirelessly on a very complex task under tight time constraints.
Financial Support: The authors received no funding for their participation in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, which was funded by the Department of Transportation, or for preparing this manuscript.
Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-0069.
Corresponding Author: Steven M. Teutsch, MD, MPH; e-mail, [email protected]
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Teutsch: [email protected]
Dr. Naimi: Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, Crosstown Center, Room 2046, Boston, MA 02118.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: S.M. Teutsch.
Drafting of the article: S.M. Teutsch.
Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: S.M. Teutsch, T.S. Naimi.
Final approval of the article: S.M. Teutsch, T.S. Naimi.
Administrative, technical, or logistic support: S.M. Teutsch.
This article was published at Annals.org on 17 January 2018.
Submit a Comment
Contributors must reveal any conflict of interest. Comments are moderated. Please see our information for authorsregarding comments on an Annals publication.
*All comments submitted after October 1, 2021 and selected for publication will be published online only.