This study showed that the alcohol industry acknowledges that driving under the influence of alcohol is an issue but argues for solutions that would limit impact on sales. Four ways in which the industry has been involved in road safety is identified. This study also shed light on the lack of cohesion within and among the public health and road safety communities, particularly with regard to the topics of receiving funding from and partnering with the alcohol industry.

The study highlights the urgent need to increase awareness about the involvement of the alcohol industry in road safety and to build a cohesive transnational alcohol control advocacy alliance to curb injuries and deaths related to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Author

Connie Hoe (email: conniehoe@jhu.edu), Niloufer Taber, Sarah Champagne, Abdulgafoor M Bachani

Citation

Connie Hoe, Niloufer Taber, Sarah Champagne, Abdulgafoor M Bachani, Drink, but don't drive? The alcohol industry’s involvement in global road safety, Health Policy and Planning, , czaa097, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czaa097


Source
Health Policy and Planning
Release date
21/11/2020

Drink, but Don’t Drive? the Alcohol Industry’s Involvement in Global Road Safety

Abstract

Introduction

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a major cause of global road traffic fatalities, yet few countries have laws that meet international best practices. One possible reason is the alcohol industry’s opposition to meaningful policies that are perceived to directly threaten sales. The primary objectives of this study are to document alcohol industry involvement in global road safety policies and programs and to critically evaluate the responses of public health and road safety communities to this involvement.

Method

Under the guidance of the Policy Dystopia Model, this study used a mixed methods approach in which data were gathered from expert interviews and a mapping review of 11 databases, five watchdog websites and seven alcohol industry-sponsored initiatives. Triangulation was used to identify points of convergence among data sources. A total of 20 expert interviews and 94 documents were analysed.

Results

This study showed that the alcohol industry acknowledges that driving under the influence of alcohol is an issue but argues for solutions that would limit impact on sales, akin to the message ‘drink—but do not drive’.

Industry actors have been involved in road safety through:

  1. coalition coupling and decoupling,
  2. information production and management,
  3. direct involvement in policymaking and
  4. implementation of interventions.

This study also shed light on the lack of cohesion within and among the public health and road safety communities, particularly with regard to the topics of receiving funding from and partnering with the alcohol industry. These results were subsequently used to adapt the Policy Dystopia Model as a conceptual framework that illustrates the ways in which the alcohol industry has been involved in global road safety.

Implications

Several implications can be drawn from this study, including the urgent need to increase awareness about the involvement of the alcohol industry in road safety and to build a cohesive transnational alcohol control advocacy alliance to curb injuries and deaths related to driving under the influence of alcohol.


Source Website: Oxford Academic