alcohol-related traffic crashes

Men, young adults, motorcyclists, and people in European and other reasonably well-developed countries are more likely to die in road crashes caused by drinking, according to a novel review of global data. Researchers found that the risk of dying in a road crash attributed to alcohol consumption varied markedly around the world and across population groups. The new review may be the first to provide detailed information on the rate of fatal injury in traffic crashes caused by alcohol use and its variation by location, the sex and age of victims, or transit circumstances. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2018, one in four road deaths worldwide were attributable to drinking. For the review in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, investigators in Mexico explored how these fatalities are distributed, geographically and demographically. This more granular information can potentially help target prevention resources at locations and communities where they may most eff

The risks of riding with an impaired driver or being involved in a crash caused by another person’s drinking are lower in countries that have comprehensive penalties for driving under the influence, according to an international study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Previous research on the effects of drunk-driving policies has focused on aggregate outcomes such as accident rates or fatalities involving alcohol-impaired drivers. Relatively slight attention has been paid to harms caused by another driver’s impairment, although these “secondhand” effects are widespread and serious; in the US in 2015, almost 40 percent of drunk-driving deaths were of victims other than the impaired driver. Investigators explored whether national policies relating to drink-driving, and regional drinking cultures, were associated with such effects.