This paper reports on the results of community-wide interventions in Salinas, California designed to reduce alcohol-related traffic injuries. The first interventions involved increased police enforcement of sobriety checkpoints combined with extensive use of the media. Subsequent interventions addressed alcohol sales to minors, responsible beverage service and a general effort to reduce access to alcohol in the community, such as at public events. 16 years of crash data and 6 years of hospital discharge data were evaluated for Salinas and a comparison community. Four years of Salinas data collected on drivers at roadside surveys, including blood alcohol concentrations, were also evaluated. Results indicate that the interventions were successful in lowering the rate of nighttime traffic injuries and the number of hospital admissions due to traffic accidents. During the time period of the intervention activities, there were also 116 fewer injury accidents.
Samenvatting