10 Steps to Curb Drunk Driving

Your editorial praise of our soon-to-retire U.S. surgeon general “A Doctor Up to the Task” (May 13) was right on: “Dr. C. Everett Koop put public health before politics as the nation’s surgeon general, and President Bush should keep that example in mind as he seeks a replacement.”

But the public-health perspective and pro-activity practiced by Dr. Koop went far beyond providing “much-needed leadership in educating the public about acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the hazards of smoking.”

Dr. Koop conducted a surgeon general’s workshop on drunk driving on Dec. 14-16, 1988, to develop recommendations for a comprehensive plan to bring impaired driving under control and eliminate it as the leading cause of death and disability among young people. Highlighting the 250 recommendations and implementation activities developed by 11 expert panels are these 10:

--Equalize federal excise tax rates for all alcoholic beverages by raising the rates for beer and wine to that of distilled spirits.

--Adopt or strengthen server/seller liability statutes and practices to encourage responsible serving and selling practices.

--Require alcohol advertisers to give equal time to health and safety messages.

--Eliminate alcohol advertising and promotion and sponsorship of public events where the majority of the audience are under the drinking age.

--Require state and local police to obtain the blood alcohol concentration of all drivers and non-motorists involved in fatal and serious motor vehicle crashes.

--Integrate drinking and driving information in all health promotion/risk reduction programs.

--Conduct research on effective community approaches to drinking and driving prevention.

--Establish a coalition of national and local advocacy groups for coordination, exchange of information, and strategic planning.

--Include drinking and driving information in health professionals’ training.

--Strengthen laws concerning hours of sale, characteristics and density of outlets, and other factors relating to retail availability of alcoholic beverages.

RAY CHAVIRA

Board Member

Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco

San Gabriel