Evaluation of the Evidence Base for the Alcohol Industry’s Actions to Reduce Drink Driving Globally
Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the evidence base for the content of initiatives that the alcohol industry implemented to reduce driving under the influence of alcohol from 1982 to May 2015.
Methods
The researchers systematically analyzed the content of 266 global initiatives that the alcohol industry has categorized as actions to reduce driving under the influence of alcohol.
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 driving under the influence of alcohol.
Conclusions
The vast majority of the alcohol industry’s actions to reduce driving under the influence of alcohol does not reflect public health evidenced–based recommendations, even though effective driving under the influence of alcohol countermeasures exist, such as a maximum blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05 grams per deciliter for drivers and widespread use of sobriety checkpoints.