U.S. Transportation Department Studies Find Strict Laws, Tough Enforcement Are Effective Life Savers on Highways

U.S. Transportation Department Studies Find Strict Laws, Tough Enforcement Are Effective Life Savers on Highways

U.S. Transportation Department Studies Find Strict Laws, Tough Enforcement Are Effective Life Savers on Highways

NHTSA
April 28, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 18-99
April 28, 1999
Contact: Tim Hurd
Tel. No. (202) 366-9550

A combination of stricter laws, including .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits, can significantly reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths, according to multi-state studies by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

"President Clinton has fought for tough drunk-driving legislation and has encouraged states to adopt .08 BAC as the national standard for drunk driving," U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said. "Stricter laws and tough enforcement of drunk driving laws will save lives and prevent injuries on our highways."

One study estimated that about 925 lives could be saved annually if all 50 states had both .08 BAC and Administrative License Revocation (ALR) laws in place.

In March 1998 President Clinton called for legislation setting a nationwide limit for impaired driving at .08 BAC and issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a plan to promote the adoption of .08 BAC as the nationwide standard, including an education campaign to help the public understand the risks associated with drinking and driving.

Forty states currently have ALR laws; 16 have adopted .08 BAC limits and a number of state legislatures are currently contemplating similar legislation. The studies confirmed that both are effective deterrents to motorists who are tempted to drink and drive.

The three independent studies for NHTSA found the following:

-Nationwide, there is strong evidence that state .08 BAC laws have reduced fatal crashes involving drivers who had been drinking. The national research effort estimated that .08 BAC laws saved 275 lives in 1997 alone. The reductions involving drivers with high BACs (above .10) were just as great as those among low BAC drivers. The reductions averaged eight percent. The study estimated that 590 additional lives would have been saved in 1997 if all 50 states had .08 BAC laws.

-Analyzing the impact of .08 BAC and ALR legislation, another multi-state study found significant reductions in alcohol-related fatalities in 7 of 11 states. Five states-Vermont, Kansas, North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico-registered reductions based on .08 laws. Two others, Virginia and California, registered reductions following adoption of .08 and ALR laws. One of the remaining four states, Utah, also registered declines in alcohol-related fatalities though the drop was not statistically significant.

-A third study found little separate effect of a .08 BAC law in North Carolina even though it documented a modest reduction in the rate of alcohol-related deaths in the state in a 39-month period following the passage of legislation in 1993. North Carolina has an aggressive enforcement program and the .08 law was one in a series of steps contributing to a decrease in alcohol-related deaths that began in 1987.

This strong research endorsement for stricter drunk driving legislation follows Secretary Slater's announcement last May that the percentage of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 1997 was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1975. Even so, 16,189 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes in 1997. President Clinton's goal is to cut alcohol-related deaths to 11,000 by 2005.

"Here's my prescription for saving the lives of thousands of Americans: Don't drink and drive-and always wear your seat belt," said NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D.

ALR laws allow police to immediately suspend the license of a driver who is arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and fails an alcohol test. A .08 BAC law makes it illegal for a person to drive a motor vehicle with a BAC at or above .08.

Summaries of the three NHTSA alcohol studies are available on the agency's web site: www.nhtsa.dot.gov/new/.

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