The effects of random breath testing and lowering the minimum legal drinking age on traffic fatalities in Australian states

Abstract

Controlling for the declining trend in traffic fatalities, the effects of changes in the MLDA law, the implementation of RBT has generated a huge effect, preventing an estimated 5279 traffic crash deaths in four Australian states. This provides further evidence that the implementation of RBT and increases in the MLDA are effective policies for reducing traffic fatalities.

Crowdsourced Countersurveillance: A Countersurveillant Assemblage?

“…In all states and territories, the introduction of random breath testing has seen a significant reduction in fatal road accidents. Further, increased levels of RBT enforcement have been found to correspond with reduced state road accident rates (Henstridge et al 1997;Jiang et al 2014).…”

Quantifying and Reducing Uncertainty about Causality in Improving Public Health and Safety

“…[55] used intervention analysis to estimate that the introduction of pedestrian countdown timers in Detroit cut pedestrian crashes by about two thirds. Jiang et al [59] applied intervention analysis to conclude that, in four Australian states, the introduction of randomized breath testing led to a substantial reduction in car accident fatalities. Callaghan et al [10] used a variant of intervention analysis, regression-discontinuity analysis, to test whether the best-fitting regression model describing mortality rates among young people changed significantly at the minimum legal drinking age, which was 18 in some provinces and 19 in others.…”

Child injury deaths linked with adult alcohol consumption: A time series analysis

“…Alcohol-specific regulations and policies also seek to protect children (and adults). In Australia, the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is 18 years (Manton et al, 2014). However, children are still potentially influenced by others' drinking in public (e.g., in drunk driving crashes and assaults) and in their own homes.…”

“…Public health interventions, such as compulsory seatbelt legislation (CSBL) and child car restraints, have been effective in reducing the road death toll amongst adults (Crandall et al, 2001;Trinca and Dooley, 1975) and children (Elliott et al, 2006;Osberg and Di Scala, 1992). Alcohol-specific interventions such as the introduction of random breath testing (RBT) and increasing the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) have also been shown to reduce rates of adult road traffic mortality (Erke et al, 2009;Jiang et al, 2014). However,…”

“…Because compulsory seatbelt legislation and random breath testing were both implemented in a similar timeframe in the 1970s, and both have been shown to have longterm and on-going preventive effects on traffic fatalities in Australia after the 1970s (Jiang et al, 2014;Trinca and Dooley, 1975), a joint-events dummy variable was constructed. This variable represents their combined impact on unintentional injuries and was constructed using the roll-out approach described by Jiang et al (2015) The effects of World War II (WWII) on injury mortality were also controlled by setting up a WWII dummy variable.…”