Table 4.
Mean change in fatal alcohol-related crashes among studies evaluating a reduction of the illegal BAC limit to .05 g/dL and below.
| Article | Location/ Time Span |
Outcome measure |
Analysis used |
Results | Change Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andreuccetti et al., 2011 | Brazil 2001 to 2010 | Monthly traffic injuries and fatalities | Time series analysis (ARIMA) | Significant decreases in both traffic injuries and fatalities following law implementation. | −2 |
| Assum, 2010 | Norway 1995 to 2007 | Self-reported drinking and driving, fatal crash rates, and single nighttime vehicle crashes | Chi-square and independent sample t-test | Though drivers reported being less likely to drink before driving after law changes, there were no significant differences in single vehicle or fatal crashes pre- and post-law implementation. | NS |
| Hingson et al., 1998 | U.S. (Maine) 1982 to 1994 | Fatal crashes in FARS for drivers convicted of DWI in prior 3 years | Relative risk comparison | After law implementation, fatal crashes involving drivers with prior DWI declined as a percentage of total crashes while increasing in neighboring states. | −13 |
| Homel, 1994 | Australia (New South Wales) 1975 to 1986 | Fatal crashes for weekend drivers and fatal crashes during the week | Generalized linear modelling | Implementation of the law resulted in a significant decrease in fatal alcohol-related crashes among weekend drivers, but no significant difference was found among weekday drivers. | −13 |
| Henstridge et al., 1997 | Australia (New South Wales) 1982 to 1992 | Number of serious crashes, fatal crashes, and single nighttime vehicle crashes | Time series analysis (ARIMA) | Reduction of BAC levels to .05 resulted in significant decreases in total numbers of all crash types. | −11 |
| McLean et al., 1995 | Australia 1991 and 1992 | BAC levels of fatally injured drivers | None reported | The reduction permissible BAC laws resulted in a mild and temporary reduction in the BAC levels of fatally injured drivers. No lasting effects noted. | NS |
| Nagata, Setoguchi, and Hemenway, 2008 | Japan 1998 to 2004 | Traffic fatalities, severe traffic injuries, and all traffic injuries | Segmented regression analysis | All traffic injuries, severe and alcohol-related decreased after law implementation. | −38 |
| Nakahara, Katanoda, and Ichikawa, 2013 | Japan 1995 to 2006 | Monthly police records on fatal road crashes | Jointpoint regression models | Changes detected in trends of alcohol-related crashes had more to do with media events than with changes in BAC legislation. | NS |
| Norström, 1997 | Sweden 1987 to 1993 | Fatal crashes alone, single-vehicle crashes alone and all crashes | Time series analysis (ARIMA) | Significant decreases were found after law implementation in all three outcome measures. | −10 |
| Smith, 1986 | Australia (Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia) 1980 to 1983 | Rates of overall fatal crashes for drivers and motorcyclists | Pre-post comparison | In all three states, there was a mild but significant impact of BAC reduction and GDL laws on crash rates for both drivers and motorcyclists ranging from 2% to 5%. | −18 |
| Živković, et al., 2013 | Serbia 2006 to 2011 | Alcohol use among fatally injured drivers | Independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and chi-squared statistics | No significant effect was found for drivers who were under the influence of alcohol, or levels of alcohol found in their systems. The law appeared to have no notable effect. | NS |
FARS = Fatality Analysis Reporting System
GDL = graduated driver licensing