Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a time for change? Results and implications derived from a time–series analysis (2001–10) conducted in Brazil

Abstract

Aims Evaluate the effects of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit on road traffic fatalities and injuries in the State and capital of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Design Time series analysis using ARIMA modelling. Setting The augmented risk of road traffic accidents when under the influence of alcohol is well documented. However, many developing countries do not have a drink-driving law or have BAC limits that are above 0.05 g/dl. In Brazil, a new law introduced in 2008 has lowered the BAC limit for drivers from 0.06 to 0.02, but the effectiveness in reducing traffic accidents remains uncertain. Measurements and participants Data on injuries and deaths caused by road traffic accidents in both regions were collected from January 2001 to June 2010, comprising a total of 1,417,087 injuries and 51,561 fatalities. Findings The new traffic law was responsible for significant reductions in traffic injuries and fatalities rates in both localities (P<0.05). A stronger effect was observed for traffic fatalities (−7.2 and −16.0% in the average monthly rate in the State and capital, respectively) compared to traffic injuries rates (−1.8 and −2.3% in the State and capital, respectively). Conclusions Lowering BAC limits had a greater impact on traffic fatalities than injuries, with a higher effect in the capital where presumably the police enforcement was enhanced, and points to the relevance of these measures on the effectiveness of such law. Rigorous investigations on the effects of strategies derived from high-income countries to control alcohol-impaired driving should be promoted in developing countries.

Beber e dirigir: características de condutores com bafômetro positivo

“…Isso reforça as evidências de que a scalização em postos de checagem de sobriedade aleatória, aquela em que qualquer motorista é submetido ao teste do bafômetro, é mais efetiva do que a scalização seletiva, aquela em que somente motoristas sob suspeita de estarem alcoolizados serão submetidos ao teste do bafômetro 24 . O presente estudo foi realizado após a "lei seca", que inicialmente teve o apoio popular e que, associada ao aumento da scalização com aplicação do teste do bafômetro, reduziu os índices de motoristas dirigindo alcoolizados em algumas cidades do país 25,26 . Entretanto, os resultados deste estudo apontam para uma alta prevalência de motoristas dirigindo sob efeito de álcool e transgredindo a lei.…”

Rethinking the debate on drinking and driving laws in São Paulo: response to the letter by Volpe & Fantoni

“…Drinkaware writes [1] to 'refute and clarify inaccuracies' in our paper [2], but it was not possible to see where it addressed the substantive points we raised. We list our responses below:…”

“…We followed a standard approach in the ARIMA model: first, testing whether the series was stationary, and if not, taking the first-order difference, then re-testing it to make sure the differenced data were stationary. As shown in Table 1 of our paper [2], the two traffic injury series (top of Table 1) were obtained by first-order differencing of original data in order to make them stationary, while the two traffic fatality series (bottom of Table 1) were stationary without the need of differencing.…”

The importance of action: government flaws could mean marketing opportunities for private companies

“…The state and federal governments have attempted to reduce the numbers of injuries caused by drinking and driving in recent years by lowering the allowed blood alcohol content (BAC) for drivers (the level is currently 0.02). Some significant results have been achieved in a few places [5] where the law was enforced, but this has not been a reality in most states of the country.…”