Car Deaths Related to Alcohol Increase

After almost two decades of progress, the nation appears to have reached a plateau in reducing the number of people killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week that, in 2000, 40% of all traffic deaths were alcohol-related. That number was up from 38% in 1999.

“One year doesn’t constitute a trend. However, we’d be crazy not to look at this as a warning flag,” says Dr. Jeff Runge, agency administrator. “What this tells me is that we need to redouble our efforts.”

The report, based on crash statistics from all states and the District of Columbia, showed that 16,653 people died last year in accidents involving alcohol. Although the figure includes cases in which pedestrians or passengers contributed to an accident, the vast majority of alcohol-related accidents involved drunk drivers, Runge says.

The recent stagnation and slight increase in alcohol-related fatalities follow a dramatic period, from 1980 to 1995, when the United States experienced a 36% decline in alcohol-related traffic deaths, says Ralph Hingson, associate dean for research at Boston University School of Public Health. There was a small uptick in 1995, but after that the numbers remained virtually unchanged.

“I think what is troublesome is that this is an area where we were making progress, and it seems to be slowing down,” he says. “We need to make the public aware that this is still a huge problem.”

The traffic safety agency offers no “definitive explanations” for the change, Runge says. But experts suggest various reasons why the campaign to reduce drinking and driving appears to be faltering. These include the availability of cheap alcoholic beverages, the lack of effective treatments for problem drinkers and changes in drivers’ attitudes.

Although surveys show that the vast majority of Americans highly disapprove of drinking and driving, there may be a competing trend affecting drivers’ behavior, says Runge.

“This may be a symptom of what I call arrogant behavior behind the wheel, where we disregard other people’s lives,” Runge says. Such behavior also includes road rage, aggression and cell phone use on the road.

“The public needs to understand what it means to act responsibly with regard to your fellow Americans,” he says.

Moreover, while many social drinkers have heeded admonitions to avoid alcohol while driving, that message has less effect on alcohol-dependent people, he says.

“Responsible people are taking precautions. That is where we are seeing gains,” he says. “Where we are up against the wall is with people who abuse alcohol, including people who are dependent on alcohol.”

Leaders of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the organization largely credited with helping change public attitudes about drinking and driving, say Americans may not realize how many people still die in alcohol-related traffic accidents--despite two decades of progress.

“Our feeling is that America is becoming complacent,” says Millie I. Webb, MADD’s president. “I’m disheartened. If the increase involved someone you loved, that is one person too many.”

Experts disagree on how best to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes. Some advocate for more punitive laws. Others say social mores concerning alcohol need to change.

“I don’t think we’re going to go any further until we start addressing the way alcohol is advertised and marketed in our communities,” says Jim Mosher, director of alcohol policy at the Trauma Foundation, a nonprofit organization based at San Francisco General Hospital.

For example, the price of alcohol has dropped relative to inflation, allowing for easier access, Mosher says. And alcohol ads increasingly target younger people.

“Many young people have the expectation that drinking is a way to become an adult,” he says. “The marketing of alcohol is more sophisticated.”

An increase in alcohol excise taxes would be one approach to curbing the availability of alcohol to young people, he suggests.

Boston University’s Hingson, however, says research shows that laws aimed at reducing drinking and driving can be effective. Such legal strategies could include lowering blood-alcohol limits and allowing police to immediately seize the license of anyone suspected of driving under the influence.

A few states also have enacted zero-tolerance laws, in which people who have been convicted of DUI can be arrested if they are shown to have any level of alcohol in their blood while driving. Other states are considering programs that would include the mandatory medical assessment and treatment of anyone convicted of driving under the influence, Hingson says.

“There is a package of legislation that we have evidence will work,” he says. “All of those things together can start to bring the totals back down.”

The news from the nation’s roadways may improve one year from now, Hingson says. Nine states lowered blood-alcohol limits to 0.08 late last year after Congress passed legislation denying highway funds to states that retain the 0.10 level.

“Lowering the blood alcohol limits can make a difference, but the passage has to be accompanied by education and enforcement,” Hingson says.

The consequences of drinking and driving should be reexamined by Americans, Runge adds. “A lot of these alcohol-related fatalities were sober people. These were innocent people who were run into by someone who was alcohol-impaired. That is a huge tragedy. This is not a victimless crime.”