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Notice to Readers: National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention
Month --- December 2003
December has been designated by presidential proclamation as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month (3D Month) and is supported by hundreds of public and private sector organizations devoted to preventing impaired-driving crashes. During 2002, alcohol-related
motor-vehicle crashes resulted in 17,419 deaths in the United States, accounting
for 41% of all traffic fatalities (1). During 1993--2002, on the basis of data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (1,2) and the U.S. Census Bureau
(3), the rate of fatalities in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes decreased 13%, from 6.9 to 6.0 per 100,000 persons
(1--3). One of the national health objectives for 2010 is a target rate
for alcohol-related traffic fatalities of no more than four per 100,000 persons (objective 26-1a)
(4). To meet this objective, the annual rate of alcohol-related
traffic fatalities must decline an additional 33%.
To achieve the national health objective, communities need comprehensive and effective strategies to prevent alcohol-impaired driving. CDC recently evaluated the effectiveness of mass media campaigns; such campaigns are effective when their messages are carefully researched and well-executed and the audience is given sufficient exposure to them
(5). Five other interventions that have been reported previously to be effective are sobriety checkpoints, 0.08% blood alcohol concentration laws, minimum legal drinking age laws, zero tolerance laws for young or inexperienced drivers, and server
intervention training programs (6). All six interventions have been recommended by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent, nonfederal panel of community health consultants. Comprehensive approaches that implement
effective interventions simultaneously hold the greatest promise for further reductions in alcohol-impaired driving.
The 3D Month program planner, which contains sample public service announcements, media tool kits, and
program guidance for conducting 3D Month activities, is available from NHTSA at
http://www.stopimpaireddriving.org.
Alcohol-impaired driving also is a global health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Road Safety as the theme for World Health Day 2004, to be held on April 7, 2004. Information about World Health Day is available from WHO
at http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2004/en.
References
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic safety facts 2002: alcohol. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2003; publication no. DOT-HS-809-470.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic safety facts 1993. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1994; publication no. DOT-HS-808-169.
U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. resident population estimates. Available at
http://eire.census.gov/popest.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010, 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
Shults RA, Elder RW, Sleet DA, et al. Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. Am J Prev Med 2001;21(suppl 4):66--88.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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