Anti-DWI Efforts Shouldn't Focus Only on Hardcore DrinkersSeptember 18, 2002
Research Summary
More than 40 percent of drivers killed in alcohol-related car crashes had no prior history of problem drinking, showing that preventive efforts need to look beyond hardcore drinkers and chronic offenders, drunk-driving opponents say.HealthScout News reported Sept. 16 that the report in the September issue of the journal Injury Prevention found that while 68 percent of drunk drivers with a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .015 percent or higher had a history of alcohol abuse, only 41 percent of drivers with a BAC of .10 to .14 percent had a prior history of alcohol problems. Among those with BACs of .01 to .09, 32 percent of victims previously had problems with alcohol.
The legal limit for drunk driving in U.S. states varies from .08 or .10 percent.
"The thrust in the alcohol field is to go after the hardcore, problem-drinking group, which does exist," said Allan Williams, lead author of the report and a researcher at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "But while they do contribute, there's the whole spectrum of drinking involved."
Alcohol is involved in about 30 percent of the 40,000 annual fatalities on American roads each year, and about 30 percent of drivers killed in these incidents have a BAC of .10 percent or more.
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