Commentary

Impaired Driving

Understanding impaired driving

In a split second, on a street near you, a family will be forever changed by a car crash caused by a driver under the influence of alcohol. The story is all too familiar. In the United States, impaired driving remains the leading criminal cause of death-and every year more than 17,000 people become victims.

Awareness of this serious social problem has been raised over the years, to the point that "one for the road" is now considered unacceptable by the majority of drivers. Government, not-for-profit and private organizations have conducted research to better understand the problem and identify ways to overcome it. States have passed laws targeting impaired drivers.

The result has been positive: a reduction of more than 30% since the 1980s in fatalities and injuries caused by impaired driving. Yet, despite these initiatives, progress has stalled. Today, approximately 40% of all motor-vehicle fatalities are still alcohol-related and renewed efforts are needed.

The problem today is substantially different than the one we first encountered more than two decades ago. At that time, attention was focused on "social drinkers" who consumed alcohol in social settings and then got behind the wheel of a car, not recognizing the risk they posed to others on the road. Over the years, educational efforts designed to target these individuals effectively deterred most of them from driving.

However, today, research has shown that impaired drivers are not a homogeneous group. In addition to social drinkers, other problem groups have been identified, including young drivers who drink, binge drinkers and hard-core drunk drivers. Strategies designed mainly for social drinkers may not be appropriate for these groups.

Young drivers, who are already a high-risk group due to their lack of driving experience, substantially increase their risk with even a small amount of alcohol. Education efforts, zero-tolerance laws for young drivers, restricting access to alcohol, and stricter monitoring of alcohol consumption are examples of strategies designed to target this group.

Binge drinkers-those who occasionally consume large amounts of alcohol-may benefit from education, enforcement and deterrent-based strategies.

An even greater concern is hard-core drunk drivers. These offenders are responsible for almost 60% of impaired driving fatalities today. Many of them have a serious drinking problem. They frequently drink and drive, often at very high blood alcohol concentrations, and may have a history of prior convictions. Loopholes in the justice system allow these offenders to avoid programs designed to change their behavior and protect the public.

Effective approaches to dealing with hard-core drunk drivers must be developed-approaches that incapacitate and monitor their behavior, treat the underlying drinking problem and deter future offending.

AAA continues its efforts to reduce alcohol-related crashes.

At the local and national levels, AAA continues to mobilize policymakers and decision-makers to ensure that effective policies, strategies and programs are implemented. The association also helps raise public awareness of the problem in communities across the country.

While national statistics show impaired driving is a larger problem than many realize, it is the individual faces of the victims, their families and their friends that reflect the real circumstances. We are all affected by this problem.