In March 1988 six Massachusetts cities initiated the Saving Lives program to reduce drunk driving, related risky driving behaviors, traffic deaths and injuries. The program included peer led school education about driving, increased police enforcement, alcohol server training, task forces of public and private citizens and a coordinator in each city's Mayor's office. Community initiatives included beer keg registration and liquor store surveillance to reduce teen access to alcohol, telephone hotlines to report speeders and target increased traffic law enforcement, child restraint law checkpoints, and the posting of signage warning motorists to yield to pedestrians. During the first three program years, teenage average daily alcohol consumption declined significantly from .82 to .59 drinks (p<.01) while it remained unchanged in comparison cities and statewide. The proportions of teens who reported driving after drinking at least once per month declined from 19% to 13% and speeding from 47% to 35%, significantly more than in comparison areas (p<.05). Safety belt use increased 9% compared to 5% in comparison cities (p<.01) and 7% statewide. The proportion of drivers speeding declined from 18% to 9% in program cities compared to 11% to 9% in comparison cities (p<.01). Fatal crashes declined 33% in program cities relative to a 14% increase in comparison cities (p<.010 and a 4% decline statewide (p<.01), prompting a two year funding extension. New initiatives include publicized use of the passive alcohol sensor, school education about speeding, expanding liquor store surveillance and beer keg registration to all program cities; an ordinance requiring server training as a condition of liquor licensing, and community organizing to institutionalize program activities. We propose to extend our quasi experimental evaluation of program sites, comparison cities and the rest of the state. To assess whether the initial positive results can be further improved, and whether the Saving Lives program is sustained, we will repeat independent telephone surveys of adults and adolescents in 1993, monitor program activities, police and court enforcement of DWI and other traffic laws, continue annual observation studies of safety belt use, speeding and illegal driving at intersections through 1994, and monitor traffic fatality and injury trends through 1995.
| Hingson, R; Heeren, T; Winter, M (1994) Lower legal blood alcohol limits for young drivers. Public Health Rep 109:738-44 |
