"As the strictness of a variety of alcohol regulations increase, the rate of alcohol-related traffic fatalities tends to decrease," said Dr. Deborah A. Cohen, an associate professor of public health and preventive medicine at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, who led the study.

Using data from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, Cohen and her colleagues analyzed traffic-related fatalities from 97 cities in 38 U.S. states from 1995 through 1997.

The researchers found that more than 44 percent of all urban car crashes during that time period involved alcohol. In cities with stricter regulations on access to alcohol and tougher penalties for violations, the alcohol-related fatality rates were lower than cities with looser laws.

The researchers looked at 20 possible alcohol regulations, such as limiting the number of liquor licenses in a community, implementing harsher penalties for driving under the influence, publishing the names of drunk drivers in the local newspaper, and conducting sobriety checkpoints.

Cohen's team found that cities that implemented fewer than nine of the regulations had a 46 percent higher rate of alcohol-related traffic accidents than cities with 15 or more of these regulations in place.

The study did not find an association between imposing taxes on alcohol and reduced fatalities. "We didn't find any relationship with taxes, because there's hardly any taxes on alcohol at all,'' Cohen said. "The most people pay is a penny or two. I think that could be a good thing to try, although we didn't find anything to support it."

The study is published in the February issue of Preventive Medicine.

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