Effectiveness of .08 and .05 BAC Limits for Driving

描述(申请人提供)：在美国，酒后驾车每年导致数千人死亡和数十万人受伤。此外，这些后果每年造成的社会代价超过1290亿美元。在1982年至1997年期间，在减少不良驾驶造成的致命后果方面取得的重大进展，在过去15年里一直停滞不前。各州通过的损害驾驶立法在20世纪80年代和90年代经历的减少中发挥了关键作用。对驾驶的血液酒精浓度(BAC)设定非法本身的限制，以及对因酒后驾车被捕的司机采取行政执照吊销或暂停处罚，已被证明对酒后驾车具有普遍的威慑作用。目前，在所有州和哥伦比亚特区(DC)，21岁或以上的任何人驾驶BAC为0.08g/dL(克/分升)或更高的机动车是非法的。恢复在减少受损驾驶死亡方面取得进展的一种方法是降低从 0.08g/dL至0.05g/dL。在世界上许多国家，非法限量为0.05BAC，几项国际研究表明，将非法本身限量从0.08g/dL降低到0.05g/dL BAC也可以减少与酒精有关的死亡。这些国际研究中的大多数已经获得，对于其余的报告，将进行全面的文献搜索。将对合格研究进行荟萃分析，以评估如果在美国实施BAC限制从0.08降至0.05的总体效果。已经就0.08BAC法律在个别州和州组的实施和效力进行了几项研究；然而，没有一项研究涵盖所有50个州和哥伦比亚特区。这项研究将通过确定在所有50个州和华盛顿特区将非法驾驶本身的BAC限制从.10g/dL降低到0.08g/dL所获得的总体效果来填补这一空白。为了实现这一目标，将使用一致的结果衡量(致命车祸中饮酒司机与致命车祸中不饮酒司机的比率)和相同的方法[时间序列ARIMA分析]来估计到2011年所有州和华盛顿特区由于采用0.08BAC而挽救的生命。将估计自1983年前两部BAC本身法律生效以来挽救的总生命。这项研究的结果将被整合，并将制定每个州和整个美国将BAC降至0.05的有效性的加权结果。最终，这项研究将帮助州政策制定者更好地理解将非法BAC限制降低到0.05g/dL的好处，因为它在美国和国外都得到了证明的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol-impaired driving results in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries in the United States each year. In addition, the societal costs of these consequences exceed $129 billion each year. The substantial progress made between 1982 and 1997 in reducing the fatal consequences of impaired driving has stalled for the past 15 years. Impaired-driving legislation adopted in the states has played a key role in the reductions experienced in the 1980s and 1990s. Setting illegal per se limits on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for driving and the adoption of administrative license revocation or suspension sanctions for drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated have been shown to be effective as general deterrents to driving after drinking alcohol. It is currently illeal, per se, for anyone aged 21 or older to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 g/dL (grams per deciliter) or greater in all states and the District of Columbia (DC). One way to resume progress in reducing impaired-driving fatalities is to lower the illegal BAC limit for driving from .08 g/dL to .05 g/dL. The illegal limit is .05 BAC in numerous countries around the world, and several international studies indicate that lowering the illegal per se limit from .08 to .05 g/dL BAC also reduces alcohol-related fatalities. Most of those international studies have been obtained, and for the remaining reports, a comprehensive literature search will be conducted. A meta-analysis of the qualified studies will be conducted to estimate the overall effectiveness of reducing the BAC limit from .08 to .05 if it is implemented in the United States. Several studies have been conducted on the implementation and effectiveness of .08 BAC laws in individual and groups of states; however, no single study has covered all 50 states and DC. This study will fill that gap by determining the overall effectiveness obtained by reducing the illegal per se BAC limit for driving from .10 g/dL to .08 g/dL in all 50 states and DC. To accomplish this, a consistent outcome measure¿drinking drivers in fatal crashes as a ratio to nondrinking drivers in fatal crashes¿and an identical methodology¿timeseries ARIMA analysis¿will be used to estimate the lives saved due to the adoption of .08 BAC in all the states and DC up through 2011. Total lives saved since 1983 when the first two .08 BAC per se laws went into effect will be estimated. The results from this study will be integrated and a weighted result of the effectiveness of lowering the BAC to .05 in each state and the United States as a whole will be developed. Ultimately, this study will help state policy makers gain a better understanding of the benefits of lowering the illegal BAC limit to .05 g/dL, based on its proven effectiveness both in the United States and abroad.