Drunken Driving Fatalities Falling
Drunken Driving Fatalities Falling
Biggest Decline in Alcohol-Related Crashes Among Young Drivers
Dec. 5, 2002 -- Years of public health and traffic safety campaigns aimed at preventing drunken driving among teenage drivers are finally paying off. A new government report shows that the biggest decline in alcohol-related fatal car crashes between 1982 and 2001 was among drivers under the age of 21.
Overall, alcohol-related automobile fatalities has declined across all age groups in the last 20 years, but since 1999 rates have increased slightly for all ages except for drivers 16-17 years old.
The findings appear in the Dec. 6 edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC.
The study found fatal automobile crashes in which alcohol was involved decreased by 46% from 1982 to 2001, but the most dramatic decline was among the youngest drivers. Rates declined by 60% among drivers aged 16-17 and 55% for drivers 18-20, but by only 39% among drivers over 25.
Alcohol was considered a factor if a driver involved in the crash had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of greater than or equal to 0.01%. Most states have a legal BAC limit of 0.08% for drivers over 21.
Researchers say most of the decreases occurred before 1997, then leveled off until 1999. Since then, the rates began to rise slightly for all but the 16- and 17-year-old age group. Despite those advances, they say alcohol-related automobile accidents resulted in 17,448 deaths during 2001 alone.
Officials credit the decline to a federal law requiring states to raise the minimum legal drinking age to 21 by 1988 and other interventions targeted at high-risk young drivers, such as zero-tolerance BAC standards for drivers under the legal drinking age and graduated licensing programs.
Drunken Driving Fatalities Falling
Biggest Decline in Alcohol-Related Crashes Among Young Drivers
Dec. 5, 2002 -- Years of public health and traffic safety campaigns aimed at preventing drunken driving among teenage drivers are finally paying off. A new government report shows that the biggest decline in alcohol-related fatal car crashes between 1982 and 2001 was among drivers under the age of 21.
Overall, alcohol-related automobile fatalities has declined across all age groups in the last 20 years, but since 1999 rates have increased slightly for all ages except for drivers 16-17 years old.
The findings appear in the Dec. 6 edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC.
The study found fatal automobile crashes in which alcohol was involved decreased by 46% from 1982 to 2001, but the most dramatic decline was among the youngest drivers. Rates declined by 60% among drivers aged 16-17 and 55% for drivers 18-20, but by only 39% among drivers over 25.
Alcohol was considered a factor if a driver involved in the crash had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of greater than or equal to 0.01%. Most states have a legal BAC limit of 0.08% for drivers over 21.
Researchers say most of the decreases occurred before 1997, then leveled off until 1999. Since then, the rates began to rise slightly for all but the 16- and 17-year-old age group. Despite those advances, they say alcohol-related automobile accidents resulted in 17,448 deaths during 2001 alone.
Officials credit the decline to a federal law requiring states to raise the minimum legal drinking age to 21 by 1988 and other interventions targeted at high-risk young drivers, such as zero-tolerance BAC standards for drivers under the legal drinking age and graduated licensing programs.