Desarrollo y puesta en práctica de la Unidad Didáctica

policies: BAC limits and related measures

In Europe since the 1960s there has been a shift towards stricter and more similar alcohol policies, particularly between 1980 and 1990. The main factor in harmonisation is the increase in alcohol-related policy-making in many countries, particularly in the area of drink-driving where all European countries now have a legal BAC limit. Marketing controls, minimum ages to buy alcohol, and public policy structures to deliver policy are now much more common (Institute of Alcohol Studies 2006).

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It is evident that countries are influenced by general trends in policy elsewhere and by the advocacy of the WHO. European countries are influenced by EU policies; there is mutual influence among English-speaking countries – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, and the UK; and Canada and the USA are influenced by developments in Europe.

Significant declines in the last two decades in alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths and injuries worldwide have been attributed to a dramatic shift in public attitudes so that drink driving is no longer socially acceptable (Worldwide Brewing Alliance 2008). The European Transport Safety Council (2007) concluded from evidence from 15 countries that deaths from drink-driving crashes in Europe were decreasing faster than road deaths from other causes, though acknowledging that it was a mixed picture and that recording of drink-driving crashes is ‘patchy’.

However, progress in reducing injuries and deaths has slowed in recent years, and in some countries trends have reversed. Among our selected comparator countries:

• In Australia, there has been a significant long-term reduction in the

incidence of driving-related accidents, but the trend over recent years in the incidence of drink-driving across states is stable.

• In Canada, the rate of fatally injured drivers with a BAC over the legal limit has flat-lined in the last 5 years, after a sharp drop between 1987 and 1999.

• In New Zealand, there has been a levelling off in the incidence of alcohol- related accidents in the last 5 years, although in the long term there has been a dramatic reduction.

• In Sweden, drink-driving is increasing: about 25% of fatal accidents are alcohol-related, a rise from 18% a couple of years ago.

In Japan, by contrast, drink-driving and alcohol-related accidents decreased dramatically in the month since introduction of stiffer penalties in 2007; and, in

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the Netherlands, the lowest rate of tested drivers over the legal limit since 1975 is attributed to a combination of intensive enforcement and education. The UK is among a relatively small group of countries whose legal BAC limit is 0.08, and it has not changed the legal limit in the 43 years since establishing it. The trend of change worldwide is predominantly in the direction of reducing BAC limits, mainly to 0.05 or lower.

The table below shows the direction of travel of legal BAC limits in the 24 countries in Europe and worldwide which have made changes since the mid- 1990s. (The colour-coding identifies countries with similar BAC limits before they made changes.)

The direction of change in BAC limits worldwide <0.10 <0.08 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.00 1970s x→→→→→→→→→→→Netherlands x →→→N Zealand 1980s x →→→S Africa 1990s x →→→→→→→→→→→→→→→Sweden x→→→→→→→→→→→ Australia x→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→ Costa Rica x→→→→→→→→→→→ Belgium Bulgaria←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←x x →→→Ireland x→→→→ →→→→→→→France x→→→→→ Brazil x →→→→→→→→→→→ Austria x→→→→→→→→→→→ Denmark x →→→→→→→→→→→ Germany x→→→→→→→→→→→ Spain 2000s x →→→USA x→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→Norway Portugal←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←x x→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→Columbia x→→→→→→→→→→→Japan x→→→→→→→→→→→ Italy x→→→→→→→→→→→ S Africa x→→→→→→→→→→→ Switzerland x→→→→ →→→→→→→→→→→ Cyprus x→→→→→→→→→→→ Luxembourg x→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→Brazil

Sources of data: Rehn (2001); Worldwide Brewing Alliance (2008)

In recent years among the selected comparator countries, Japan has reduced its BAC limit to 0.03. (Outside the comparator group, Russia and Korea have considered respectively raising and lowering their BAC limits.) Canada has considered and rejected proposals to further reduce the federal criminal code BAC limit from 0.08 to 0.05. Because the debate in Canada was recent, we

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have included a case study (see Appendix A) summarising how the argument evolved and highlighting some more generally relevant issues, such as: • the policy response when effective strategies begin to lose momentum • the risk that a reduction in the legal limit will overburden a legal system

without increasing the law’s deterrent effect

• concerns that a reduction would cover a group of drivers who were not a substantial problem and have minimal effect on the problem group • worries about unnecessary criminalisation and the proportionality of

policies

• the role of administrative rather than criminal sanctions at lower than legal BAC limits

• growing interest in enforcement measures beyond the BAC limit, especially random breath testing

• growing interest in lower BAC limits for young and novice drivers.

The case of the USA illustrates how special factors can affect policy-making. There, the conjunction of a particularly effective grassroots organisation – Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) – with a growing body of scientific evidence on impairment of driving-related skills at low BAC levels encouraged a trend towards the lower legal BAC limit of 0.08, assisted by financial

incentives for states from the federal government (Fell and Voas 2003).

Lower BAC limits for certain categories of driver

Many countries have introduced enforceable BAC limits below the legal maximum, sometimes called ‘zero tolerance laws’. They apply to certain categories of driver – typically, young, learner, probationary and professional drivers. The limits vary from country to country but are mainly in the range zero to 0.04. Among the selected comparator countries, the states and territories of Australia, the provinces and territories of Canada, the states of the USA, the Netherlands, and New Zealand have variously set lower BAC levels (from zero to 0.03) for learner, probationary and professional drivers. Japan and Sweden, which at 0.03 and 0.02 respectively are among a small

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group of countries with the lowest BAC limit (apart from those with a zero limit), have not done so.

Graduated driver licensing

Graduated driver licensing is a system designed to give young drivers more driving privileges as they become more mature and develop their driving skills. Phases may include a learner phase, which has a defined minimum length, and a novice or provisional phase leading to a full licence. Among the

selected comparator countries, there are graduated driver licensing schemes in Sweden, all Australian states, New Zealand, most Canadian provinces, and in states in the USA.