Evaluation of the evidence base for the alcohol industry's actions to reduce drink driving globally

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-1-2016

Journal

American Journal of Public Health

Volume

106

Issue

4

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2015.303026

Abstract

Objectives.To evaluate the evidence base for the content of initiatives that the alcohol industry implemented to reduce drink driving from 1982 to May 2015. Methods. We systematically analyzed the content of 266 global initiatives that the alcohol industry has categorized as actions to reduce drink driving. Results. Social aspects public relations organizations (i.e., organizations funded by the alcohol industry to handle issues that may be damaging to the business) sponsored the greatest proportion of the actions. Only 0.8% (n = 2) of the sampled industry actions were consistent with public health evidence of effectiveness for reducing drink driving. Conclusions. The vast majority of the alcohol industry's actions to reduce drink driving does not reflect public health evidenced-based recommendations, even though effective drink-driving countermeasures exist, such as a maximum blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05 grams per deciliter for drivers and widespread use of sobriety checkpoints.

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