Alcohol Policies and Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities Among Young People in the US
What is known on the subject
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among young people in the United States. Stronger alcohol policies prevent motor vehicle crash deaths, but studies to date have examined only single policies rather than the overall alcohol policy environment.
What the study adds
The researchers found that >1 in 4 motor vehicle crash fatalities among children, adolescents, and young adults <21 years old were alcohol related and that stronger alcohol policy environments appeared protective for both drivers and passengers regardless of age and sex.
Abstract
Background
Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of death among young people in the United States.
The researchers examined the relationship between states’ alcohol policy environments and alcohol-related MVC fatalities among children, adolescents, and young adults under the minimum legal age of 21 years.
Methods
The researchers used the Alcohol Policy Scale (APS), an assessment of 29 alcohol policies across 50 states and Washington, DC, developed with the assistance of an interdisciplinary Delphi panel. Using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the researchers examined APS scores in relation to fatalities of people ≤20 years old from 2000 to 2013 occurring in crashes in which ≥1 involved driver had a blood alcohol content ≥0.08%.
Logistic regression was used with a 1-year lag between policies and MVC fatalities and adjusted for potential confounders.
Results
Of 84 756 MVC fatalities of those ≤20 years old during the study period, 23 757 (28.0%) were alcohol related, including deaths of 11 006 (46.3%) drivers, 10 212 (43.0%) passengers, and 2539 (10.7%) pedestrians, cyclists, and others.
People killed in alcohol-related MVCs were predominantly male (72.7%) and older (65.5% were 18–20 years old), and 51.2% were non-Hispanic white.
Restrictive policy environments were associated with fewer fatalities (adjusted odds ratio, 0.91 per 10-percentage-point increase in APS score; 95% confidence interval, 0.89–0.94). The association was observed for drivers and passengers, male and female decendents, and children, adolescents, and young adults.
Conclusions
More restrictive alcohol policies are associated with reduced alcohol-related MVC mortality among young people. Studies should scrutinize the relationship between policies and fatalities to highlight mechanisms.