Drink-driving law enforcement and the legal blood alcohol limit in New South Wales (original) (raw)
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Objective This study aims to apply time series analysis techniques to examine the effects of random breath testing (RBT) on three age-specific traffic fatalities in four Australian states while considering the effects of lowering the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). Methods Long-term time series of age-specific traffic crash deaths in four Australian states were used to analyse the impact of RBT implementation while considering the population growth, increase in motor vehicle registrations and the effects of lowering the MLDA. Results The results of intervention analysis indicate that RBT has substantially reduced traffic fatalities in all four states since it was introduced, particularly among the 17-year-olds to 20-year-olds and 21-year-olds to 30-year-olds. New South Wales received the biggest total net effect from RBT implementation on traffic deaths. By contrast, RBT produced only a modest reduction in traffic fatalities among 30-year-olds to 39-year-olds. Lowering the MLDA was associated with significant increases in traffic fatalities among 17-year-olds to 39-year-olds in Queensland and Western Australia. Conclusions Controlling for the declining trend in traffic fatalities, the effects of changes in the MLDA law, the implementation of RBT has generated a huge effect, preventing an estimated 5279 traffic crash deaths in four Australian states. This provides further evidence that the implementation of RBT and increases in the MLDA are effective policies for reducing traffic fatalities.
Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2015
The associations between population-level alcohol consumption and fatal injuries have been examined in a number of previous studies, but few have considered the external impacts of major policy interventions. This study aims to quantify the associations between per capita alcohol consumption and traffic and nontraffic injury mortality rates in Australia before and after major traffic safety initiatives (the introduction of compulsory seat belt legislation [CSBL] and random breath testing [RBT] in 1970s). Using data from 1924 to 2006, gender- and age-specific traffic and nontraffic mortality rates (15 years and above) were analyzed in relation to per capita alcohol consumption using time series analysis. The external effects of policy interventions were measured by inserting a dummy variable in the time series models. Statistically significant associations between per capita alcohol consumption and both types of fatal injuries were found for both males and females. The results sugges...
Deterring Drinking and Driving: The Australian Approach
1988
This paper begins by noting that recent efforts in the United States to reduce the incidence of alcohol-impaired driving have not been very effective and suggests that for efforts to be effective, they must raise the actual risk of punishment to a level that cannot be ignored by potential offenders. It then describes an effective system of controls on alcohol-impaired driving begun in Austf-alia which includes extensive use of random breath testing for all drivers. Discussion is focused on efforts in three Australian states where 70% of the population resides. Approaches adopted by Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland are described and data on fatal road crashes in each state over the past 15 years are presented. It is noted that when the program was implemented in New South Wales in 1982, road crash fatalities dropped 20% and the rate has remained at this lower level for the past 5 years. An important factor in the success of the program is the perception of increased risk of arrest for alcohol-impaired driving. Public agreement with the policy of random breath testing is discussed and a rise in agreement from 70% of drivers in 1979 to the current level of about 95% agreement is described. Legal problems to initiating programs of random breath testing in the United States are considered and the Australian experience with random breath testing is presented a a potentially valuable source of guidance for American efforts to improve the credibility and effectiveness of laws dealing with alcohol-impaired driving. (NB)
Drink driving and Australian alcohol policy developments in 2008-2009
This paper provides a summary of the debates happening in Australia concerning alcohol over the period 2008-2009. In previous papers, we have outlined the approaches to prevention and to enforcement policies regarding alcohol, other drugs and traffic safety in Australia. Drink driving and alcohol-related road trauma continue to be seen as major factors to be addressed in Australian road safety efforts (together with speeding, driver fatigue and distraction, and the non-wearing of seat belts), and this is reflected in national, state and territory, and local road safety strategies. In this paper, we argue that the countermeasures designed to address drink driving and alcohol-related road trauma in Australia have proven to be resilient in the face of such major challenges as the development of a binge drinking culture among young Australians, the extension of trading hours of licensed premises, continued problems with the secondary supply of alcohol to minors, and increases in the mar...
Drinkers and Their Driving: Compliance with Drink Driving Legislation in Four Australian States
1989
This paper was to discuss drivers and their drinking, using data from a recent national study which investigated the behaviour, experiences, and attitudes towards drink-driving of Australian drivers. The reversal of the title is not merely a frivolous gesture, but reflects the author's conviction that the focus should be widened beyond a concern with the way in which some drivers consume alcohol, thereby placing themselves and the community at risk, to all drivers who consume alcohol (75 per cent of this sample) and the circumstances under which they find it easy or difficult to comply with drink-driving legislation. This understanding is surely necessary if we are to design preventions that take human factors into account. This paper, then, looks at compliance rather than offending, and asks the basic question 'How do people who drink manage their driving?'. Focusing on the drinker recognises that Australia is a country where alcohol is intricately entwined in almost every leisure, and many business activities, and where one of the worst epithets that can be levelled at an individual is that of 'wowser' (Horne, 1971). At the same time, sprawling cities, vast hinterlands and poor public transport combine to make car ownership not only desirable but almost essential, so that a majority of people travel by car to and from their leisure and recreational pursuits. Small wonder, then, that driving after drinking appears to be an ubiquitous behaviour. The Study The data that are presented here are taken from a recent survey of drivers in four states-New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. The study investigated the general deterrence and general prevention of drink-driving and followed in a tradition of research initiated in the United States by Snortum and Berger in California (in press). Noting that H.L. Ross had argued that harsh legislative procedures had only a minimal and, as he put it, 'evanescent effect' on drink-driving fatalities, Snortum suggested that more than a simple deterrence theory, which used fear of apprehension as the major variable, was needed to evaluate the efficacy of legal provisions. It had been pointed out that the law also serves an educative and moralising function, 'which fosters a change in moral outlook and promotes habitual law abiding behaviour' (in press, p.2). This, however, would be longer term, and gains might be less dramatic than those immediately following legislative change. To explore this possibility, drivers in Norway and the United States were surveyed in 1983 on a range of attitudinal, knowledge and self-reported behavioural questions. In 1986 the survey was repeated with American drivers.
Drinkers and their driving: compliance with drinking-driving legislation in four Australian states
Journal of studies on alcohol, 1992
This study replicates work in Norway and the United States in investigating the extent to which Australian drivers attempt to comply with drinking-driving legislation. In a four-state survey of 1,133 drinkers, it was found that people were aware of the need to control their alcohol input before driving, and derived estimates of blood alcohol after a recent away-from-home drinking occasion demonstrated that the amount people drank was influenced by whether or not they were driving. Drivers reported drinking less than nondrivers and were also those who usually consumed less alcohol. These findings were also true of people with different levels of normal consumption. Although these results are encouraging, it is suggested that there is need for further modification of sanctions, and that the community needs more information about the alcohol content of drinks and drink sizes if people are to moderate effectively their drinking before driving.
2010
The review aimed to assess how effective the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws are at reducing road traffic injuries and deaths. It also assessed the potential impact of lowering the BAC limit from 0.081 to 0.05. The review examined: â?¢ drink-driving patterns and the associated risk of being injured or killed in a road traffic accident â?¢ how BAC limits and related legislative measures have changed drink-drinking behaviour and helped reduce alcohol-related road traffic injuries and deaths â?¢ models estimating the potential impact of lowering the BAC limit from 0.08 to 0.05 in England and Wales â?¢ lessons from other countries on using BAC laws as part of overall alcohol control and road safety policies. A conceptual framework was used to show how, in theory, a law limiting driversâ?T BAC levels could lead to changes in how much drivers drink and the number of alcohol-related road traffic injuries and deaths. The review of evidence tested these theoretical links and the robus...
The effectiveness of licence restriction for drink drivers: The Australian experience
Centre For Accident Research Road Safety Qld Faculty of Health Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, 2000
In many jurisdictions, licence restriction is used as an alternative to full suspension for certain drink driving offenders. However, this may undermine both the specific and general deterrent effect of licence loss, by reducing the perceived certainty and severity of the sanction. To explore this proposition, an analysis was undertaken of the records of almost 22,000 male drivers initially convicted of drink driving during 1988 in Queensland, Australia. At a process level, it was found that licence restriction was relatively common, with 12% of offenders being granted a restricted licence for employment purposes. Contrary to legislative guidelines, these licences were sometimes granted to offenders with a recent history of drink driving. At an outcome level, it was found that the restricted drivers were involved in a similar proportion of alcohol-related crashes, but more non alcohol-related crashes, during the term of the sanction than drivers who had been fully suspended. This is consistent with previous research by the authors indicating that restricted drivers do not commit any more drink driving offences than suspended drivers. Therefore, while full suspension produces greater overall road safety benefits, restricted licences appear no less effective as a specific deterrent to drink driving.
Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2015
This article presents the results of an evaluation of administrative laws introduced over time in different Canadian provinces to lower the permitted blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for driving or having care of a motor vehicle to .05% or less. Regression models for longitudinal data were used to estimate the effects of these laws on fatal alcohol-related collisions. Results reveal that significant decreases in the percentage of fatally injured drivers with prohibited BAC levels were recorded following the introduction of the laws. Reductions were observed for drivers of all drinking levels.
Effects of recent 0.08% legal blood alcohol limits on fatal crash involvement
Injury Prevention, 2000
Objectives-This study assessed whether states that lowered legal blood alcohol limits from 0.10% to 0.08% in 1993 and 1994 experienced post-law reductions in alcohol related fatal crashes. Methods-Six states that adopted 0.08% as the legal blood alcohol limit in 1993 and 1994 were paired with six nearby states that retained a 0.10% legal standard. Within each pair, comparisons were made for the maximum equal available number of pre-law and post-law years. Results-States adopting 0.08% laws experienced a 6% greater post-law decline in the proportion of drivers in fatal crashes with blood alcohol levels at 0.10% or higher and a 5% greater decline in the proportion of fatal crashes that were alcohol related at 0.10% or higher. Conclusions-If all states adopted the 0.08% legal blood alcohol level, 400-500 fewer traYc fatalities would occur annually. (Injury Prevention 2000;6:109-114)