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Enforcement Credited for Drop in Alcohol-Related Highway Deaths August 3, 2005
News Summary
The federal government has reported a decrease in the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities for the second consecutive year. Safety experts are attributing the downward trend to a uniform blood alcohol standard for drunk driving and to law enforcement's increased use of sobriety checkpoints.
The Associated Press reported Aug. 2 that alcohol-related deaths on U.S. highways declined by 2.4 percent, from 17,105 in 2003 to 16,694 in 2004. Overall traffic deaths were at 42,636 last year, down 0.6 percent from 2003, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Several groups promoting motor safety pointed to the nation's uniform standard of .08 for drunk driving as pivotal in reducing the number of alcohol-related deaths. Minnesota on Aug. 1 became the last state to lower its blood alcohol threshold from .10 to .08.
According to the government report, traffic fatalities involving someone with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher decreased by 1.8 percent in 2004.
Forty states presently allow law enforcement officers to set up sobriety checkpoints, which can deter motorists from driving while intoxicated. "As more and more states see that you can do these sobriety checkpoints with fewer officers, they will do more," said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association.
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