Wednesday, December 27, 2000

Health and safety go hand in hand

Motor vehicle safety is a 20th-century public health achievement that relies on you to make it work.

"You Drink & Drive: You Lose" is the message from the Fayette County Health Department this holiday season as we join with the local, state and federal national organizations for a public education campaign to kick off National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.

The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century the motorization of America.

A systematic method of addressing motor vehicle safety began in the 1960s when approximately 38,459 deaths were attributed to motor vehicle crashes. In 1966, after five years of steadily increasing death rates, the Highway Safety Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau (NHSB).

Dr. William Haddon, a public health physician, was NHSBs first director. He applied standard public health methods and epidemiology to the prevention of motor-vehicle-related injuries and deaths.

The year 1966 also saw the passage of the Highway Safety Act and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which authorized the federal government to set and regulate standards for motor vehicles and highways.

Following this legislation, many changes in road and vehicle design were implemented. Vehicles were built with new safety features, including head rests, energy-absorbing steering wheels, shatter-resistant windshields, and safety belts.

Road improvements included better marking of curves and lanes of traffic, use of breakaway sign and utility poles, improved lighting, addition of barriers separating oncoming traffic, and guardrails.

By 1970, motor vehicle-related death rates were decreasing, and the NHSB had changed its name to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Though very significant progress has been made, there remains much to be done.

In 1997, motor-vehicle crashes resulted in 41,967 deaths, 3.4 million nonfatal injuries, and 23.9 million vehicles in crashes; cost estimates are $200 billion.

In September, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater announced that alcohol-related traffic fatalities dropped again to a new historical low and represented a smaller percentage of the total traffic fatalities, 38% in 1999 as compared to 39% in 1998.

The very next month, Congress demonstrated its commitment to highway safety by passing a transportation bill that had attached to it the changing of the national standard for impaired driving from .10 to .08 BAC.

Last year, impaired drivers were responsible for almost 16,000 fatalities nationwide, accounting for 305,000 reported injuries. That translates to one person dead every 33 minutes, and one person injured every two minutes.

There were an estimated 1.5 million arrests of impaired drivers in 1997. Moreover, in that same year, the death rate for young motor vehicle occupants (ages16-20 years) was more than twice that of the U.S. general population.

Analysis of crashes involving youth show that teens are more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns, ride with an impaired driver, and drive after drinking alcohol or using drugs.

As drivers who are relatively new to the road, young adults under the age of 21 are still learning to negotiate roadways and become familiar with the general rules of the road. When alcohol is added, the mix can be deadly and the criminal repercussions severe (DUI and underage drinking.)

Whether adult or teen, the simple fact of the matter is that driving while impaired is a crime.

Over the years, alcohol has become an accepted, even expected fixture of holiday celebrations, sporting events and social get-togethers. Therefore, it is common that such situations arise, but they are easily avoided by choosing a designated driver or planning alternate modes of transportation.

Unfortunately, too many people continue to drive while impaired, citing inconvenience, pride or embarrassment as excuses for their reckless behavior.

Studies show that impairment begins at any blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over.00. Though you may think that you can be charged with DUI only if you are found to have a BAC of .08 or more, you can still be charged (even if your BAC is, lets say .04) if you have been drinking, or are otherwise chemically impaired to the extent that it is deemed to be "less safe" for you to be driving, or otherwise in control of a motor-vehicle.

There is also a three-hour window of opportunity within the law that allows a person with an elevated BAC to be charged with DUI, so leaving the scene of an accident won't work either.

BAC is affected by many variables (i.e. individual body mass, previous experience with alcohol, amount of food consumed prior to drinking, etc), so answering the question "How much is too much?" varies widely among individuals.

It is always best to use a designated driver or make alternate travel arrangements if you plan to drink. The only truly safe driving is sober driving.

The Fayette County Health Department lends its support to NHTSA, local law enforcement, and SAFE KIDS of Georgia in an effort to prevent impaired driving, and raise awareness in our community about its deadly consequences. It is time to address impaired driving as a serious issue that costs our residents million of dollars each year in lost time, lost property and, most importantly, lost lives. The greatest tragedy is that deaths due to alcohol-related crashes are not accidents they are preventable.

You can help keep our roads safe and saves lives (maybe even your own) by remembering: YOU DRINKor DRUG, & DRIVE YOU LOSE.