Traffic Tech #216: Legislation And Enforcement Associated With A 19 Percent Reduction In Alcohol-Reated Fatal Crashes In New Mexico

New Mexico has had a long history of high rates of alcohol-related fatal crashes. In fact, for the past few decades, they have had some of the highest rates in the nation. In 1993, New Mexico passed omnibus legislation to strengthen their DWI laws and create a stronger anti-DWI environment.

Mid-America Research Institute of Winchester, Massachusetts conducted a study for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the effectiveness of New Mexico's new legislative package.

There are difficulties in evaluating comprehensive legislative initiatives such as New Mexico's because it is nearly impossible to separate the effect of any one component of the bill from the others. New Mexico also implemented a long series of bimonthly DWI checkpoint blitzes accompanied by widespread publicity, thus combining legislation, visible enforcement, and public education and information.

Included in New Mexico's Omnibus Bill:

• Lower the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level from .10 to .08
  
• Create zero tolerance legislation (.02) for those under the age of 21.
  
• Create a new offense of aggravated DWI for those with a BAC over .15
  
• Increase the penalties for driving on a revoked license
  
• Increase taxes on all forms of alcoholic beverages.
  
• Increase fines and penalties for service to minors
  
• Implement statewide sobriety checkpoint blitzes
  
• Create a DWI program fund

Alcohol-Related Fatal Crashes
Decline 19 Percent
An interrupted time series approach was used in analyzing the impact of the overall program. The intervention point was the implementation of a statewide sobriety checkpoint program, which was followed immediately by the effective date of most of the legislative changes.

The data analysis showed a reduction in drunk driving fatal crashes of 19.25 percent. Although this reduction was dramatic, it was not statistically significant, most likely because New Mexico's population is relatively small and the modest sample size requires large absolute reductions in fatal crashes to achieve statistical significance.

Crash trends were also examined in five surrounding states (Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada) as a comparison and showed a reduction of only 3.52 percent -- lending further support to the hypothesis that New Mexico's reduction was due, at least, in part, to their legislative and enforcement activities.

HOW TO ORDER
For a copy of Evaluation of Changes in New Mexico's Anti-DWI Efforts (19 pages), write to Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20590, fax (202) 366-7096, or download from the web http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

U.S. Department
of Transportation
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-31
Washington, DC 20590

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Linda Cosgrove, Ph.D., Editor, Evaluation Staff
Traffic Safety Programs
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