Regulating drink driving to protect all road users Eu European - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Regulating drink driving to protect all road users

Eu European ean Tr Tran ansport Saf Safet ety Lec ecture e 2016 Richar ard Allsop Univer ersity Colleg ege e London

Ideally for road safety

No No-one e inten ending to drive e would drink k al alcohol bef eforeh ehan and An And no-one e af affec ected ed by al alcohol wo would d dri rive So So ev ever ery driver er’s blood al alcohol concen entrat ation (BAC) would be e zer ero

• r near

ear zer ero

Understanding and practice

• Drink

k driving within the e wider er chal allen enge e of al alcohol in societ ety

• Alcohol an

and cap apab ability to drive

• Alcohol an

and collision involvem emen ent

• Es

Estimat ating how much drink k driving contributes es to risk k to road ad user ers

Understanding and practice

• How low the

e limit on BAC should be

• En

Enforcem emen ent to det eter er from an and to det etec ect driving while e over er the e limit

• How to treat

eat convicted ed offen ender ers

• How far

ar we e hav ave e come e an and wher ere e we e might go on to from her ere

Alcohol in society

• Alcohol provides

es pleas easure e an and rel elief ef – but the e har arm an and suffer ering it can an cau ause e ar are e a a chal allen enge e to societ ety

• f which drink

k driving is just one e smal all par art

• For road

ad saf afet ety we e should focus on red educing deat eaths, injury an and dam amag age e res esulting from driving af after er drinki king

Alcohol and capability to drive

• Wel

ell bef efore e the e motor ag age, e, bei eing drunk k in char arge e of a a veh ehicle e was as rec ecognised ed as as undes esirab able e – but law aws ag agai ainst it wer ere e har ard to en enforce – an and most drink-driver ers ar are e far ar from bei eing drunk

• Res

esear earch into the e ef effec ects on cap apab ability

• f modes

est quan antities es of al alcohol al also beg egan an bef efore e the e motor ag age

Alcohol and capability to drive

• By 1960, ev

eviden ence e of ad adver erse e ef effec ects

• f ev

even en low lev evel els of al alcohol upon cap apab ability to drive e was as clear ear – but ev eviden ence e of ef effec ect on involvem emen ent in collisions was as still ver ery limited ed

• Th

This ev eviden ence, e, mai ainly from lar arge e fiel eld studies es in the e USA SA, cam ame e first in 1964 – an and was as rei einforced ed in 2002

BAC and collision involvement

5 10 15 20 25 0.5 1 1.5 Collision risk relative to zero BAC Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) g/l

BAC and fatal collisions

10 20 30 40 50 0.5 1 1.5 Fatality risk relative to zero BAC Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) g/l Maycock GB 1997 Zador USA 2000 Romano USA 2014

Maycock values below 0.5g/l added in light of panel discussion on 20161018

How much drink driving contributes to road risk

Four mai ain sources es of informat ation: 1.

• 1. Road

adside e survey eys of driver er BACs 2.

• 2. Driver

er BACs meas easured ed during en enforcem emen ent 3.

• 3. Road

ad user er BACs meas easured ed af after er co collisi sions 4.

• 4. Meas

easured ed BACs of ki killed ed road ad user ers

Measurement after collisions

• Ideal

eally, af after er ev ever ery fat atal al collision, the e BAC of ev ever ery driver er, rider er an and wal alker ker involved ed should be e meas easured ed

• Th

This would en enab able e the e number ers of dri drink nk-rel elat ated ed deat eaths to be e rec ecorded ed

• Th

The e sam ame e might be e done e in due e course e for ser erious injuries es

Defining a drink-related road death

SafetyNet project definition: : Deat eath within 30 day ays in a a collision wher ere e an any driver er, rider er or wal alker ker has as a a BAC ab above e the e leg egal al limit Th This an and much other er work k def efines es a a dr drink nk-rel elat ated ed deat eath in rel elat ation to the e leg egal al limit But we e should think k ag agai ain ab about doi doing s ng so!

• !

Why we should think differently about what is drink-related

• Har

arm done e by drink-dri driving ng is no no res espec ecter er of the e leg egal al limit we e set et – e. e.g. In En Englan and for ev ever ery 4 deat eaths rec ecorded ed ab above e the e limit ther ere e is

• ne

e more e in a a collision involving a a dri drink nk-driver er bel elow the e limit

• Our def

efinition should include e al all the e har arm

Percentage of road deaths recorded as drink-related

• A study for the

e EC EC in 2014 found that at this should be e ab about 25%, %, but nat ational al es estimat ates es av aver erag aged ed 12.9%

• In 2014 they

ey ran anged ed from 5% % to 30% – ev even en in countries es using the e Saf Safet etyNet et def efinition the e ran ange e was as 9% % to 30%

• So

So per ercen entag ages es in Eu Europe e ar are e not yet et compar arab able e bet etween een countries es

Numbers of road deaths recorded as drink-related

• But year

ear-on

• n-year

ear chan anges es in the e number ers rec ecorded ed ar are e compar arab able e if the e def efinitions do not chan ange

• So

So ETSC ETSC in its PI PIN program amme e has as compar ared ed an annual al av aver erag age e per ercen ent chan anges es in number ers of drink-rel elat ated ed deat eaths an and of other er road ad deat eaths over er the e per eriod 2001 to 2014

• 10%
• 5%

0% 5% 10% 15%

EU20 average: -1.1%

Tackling drink driving in 20 European countries 2001-2014

Differ eren ence e bet etween een av aver erag age e an annual al per ercen entag age e chan ange e in deat eaths rec ecorded ed as as dr drink nk-rel elat ated ed an and corres esponding chan ange e in other er road ad deat eaths

How low should the limit be?

• No lower

er than an a a country is read eady to en enforce e strictly

• Ex

Excep ept in Sc Scan andinav avia, a, man any ear early limits wer ere e 0.8g/l or 1g/l

• When

en limits hav ave e been een lower ered ed, they ey hav ave e usual ally stay ayed ed lower er

• Limits bel

elow 0.2g/l ar are e har ard to en enforce e strictly – but an any limit ab above e 0.2g/l should be e consider ered ed for lower ering

How well do people understand the limit?

• Citizens

zens need need to

• under

understand and what hat the he law aw requi equires es of

• f them

hem

• For

For the he BA BAC limit thi his ent entai ails cont continui nuing ng publ public c inf nfor

• rmat

ation

• n keepi

keeping ng pace pace with – the he changi changing ng dr drinki nking ng popul populat ation

• n

– the he changi changing ng range ange of

• f dr

drinks nks – the he changi changing ng dr drinki nking ng cul cultur ure

Enforcement of the limit

• Any law

aw that at is ab about life e an and deat eath should be e en enforced ed

• Po

Portab able e ev eviden ential al breat eath-tes esting dev evices es make ake ex exten ensive e road adside e tes esting prac acticab able

• But it need

eeds costly police e res esources es an and clear early def efined ed power ers

Enforcement of the limit to deter and to detect

• To

To det eter er – the e ai aim is to max aximise e per ercei eived ed risk k of det etec ection

• To

To det etec ect – the e ai aim is to max aximise e the e probab ability that at the e tes ested ed driver er is over er the e limit

• Pu

Publicised ed det etec ection an and conviction contributes es to det eter erren ence

Enforcement – a need for research to inform practice

• Authorities

es an and Po Police e ar are e fac aced ed with choices es ab about the e bal alan ance e bet etween een to det eter er an and to det etec ect

• We

e al all need eed to kn know more e ab about ef effec ects of differ eren ent ki kinds an and lev evel els

• f en

enforcem emen ent upon drink k driving beh ehav aviour

Treatment of convicted

• ffenders
• Ex

Exceed eeding the e limit is ser erious – it can an hav ave e ef effec ects like ke man anslau aughter er an and griev evous bodily har arm

• So

So those e found to hav ave e done e so should feel eel conseq equen ences es – like ke len engthy community ser ervice, e, disqual alificat ation from driving, confiscat ation of the e veh ehicle

Treatment of convicted

• ffenders
• It is not just a

a mat atter er of punishmen ent – the e offen ender er will still be e ar around

• So

Some e offen ender ers feel eel rem emorse e an and ar are e read eady to be e hel elped ed not to reo eoffen end when en they ey continue e or res esume e driving

• Other

ers’ lives es ar are e so af affec ected ed by al alcohol that at they ey should not res esume e

High risk offenders

• Within this spec

ectrum, some e like ke rep epeat eat offen ender ers or those e found to hav ave e driven en with ver ery high BACs can an usef efully be e iden entified ed as as high risk k offen ender ers

• Th

They ey may ay be e subjec ected ed to ex extra a req equirem emen ents like ke med edical al tes ests bef efore e hav aving thei eir licen ence e res estored ed af after er disqual alificat ation

Retraining can help

• Courses

es can an hel elp offen ender ers to under erstan and bet etter er how al alcohol af affec ects them em an and thei eir driving, an and how to keep keep within the e limit

• In Britai

ain, for ex exam ample, e, re-offen ending within 3 year ears has as been een found to be e hal alved ed am among those e choosing to complet ete e ap approved ed courses es when en ref efer erred ed to them em by the e court

Technology is at hand

... in the e form of the e alcohol interlock – lo long-es estab ablished ed in North Amer erica a an and now in use e or bei eing trial alled ed in man any Eu European ean countries es, e e g fo for: r:

• man

andat atory use e by convicted ed offen ender ers

• voluntar

ary use e in commer ercial al tran ansport

• man

andat atory use e in profes essional al driving with vulner erab able e pas assen enger ers

Alcohol interlocks used with the mix of offenders

• Req

equirem emen ent to use e an an al alcohol inter erlock k for a a time e is an an ad additional al form of punishmen ent in itsel elf

• But it al

also provides es flex exibility in the e use e of other er punishmen ents – al allowing more e consider erat ation of the e situat ation

• f eac

each offen ender er – E. E.g. ef effec ect of disqual alificat ation differ ers am among those e

• ffen

ending similar arly

Alcohol interlocks used with the mix of offenders

• Req

equirem emen ent to use e an an al alcohol inter erlock k is more e prev even entive e of drink k driving than an disqual alificat ation

• But used

ed by itsel elf the e prev even entive e ef effec ect does es not per ersist when en the e user er is free ee to drive e without the e inter erlock

• So

So its use e can an wel ell be e ac accompan anied ed by a a reh ehab abilitat ation course

Alcolock Barometer 2008

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2009

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2010

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2011

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2012

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2013

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2014

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2015

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force

Alcolock Barometer 2016

Voluntary basis Pilot project Legislation under discussion Legislation in force On hold

... so it’s not plain sailing

• Man

any possibilities es for inter erlocks ks ar are e bei eing ex explored ed but issues es ar are e ar arising: – motivat ation of the e judiciar ary – cost of the e inter erlocks ks an and who pay ays – proced edure e for an and costs of using log dat ata a from inter erlocks ks to support user ers an and to inform policy – public per ercep eption of user ers

How far have we come?

• Wides

espread ead under erstan anding that at driving af after er drinki king is risky ky

• Rec

ecognition of the e need eed to keep keep rei einforcing this mes essag age

• So

Some e way ay towar ards def efining an and meas easuring the e har arm bei eing done

• Wides

espread ead leg egal al limits on driving wi with th h high B BACs – an and a a ten enden ency to lower er thes ese e limits

How far have we come?

• Motivat

ation to en enforce e the e limit but limited ed under erstan anding of how bes est to do s to do so

• Po

Portab able e ev eviden ential al breat eath tes esting

• Mixed

ed read eadines ess for pen enal alties es to ref eflec ect the e ser eriousnes ess of ex exceed eeding the e limit

• Alcohol inter

erlock k tec echnology

Where to go from here?

• Bet

etter er ap apprec eciat ation of increas eased ed risk k

• f a

a fat atal al or life-chan anging collision

• Ev

Even en great eater er ef effort to get et mes essag age e to those e leas east read eady to hear ear it

• Dev

evel elop a a def efinition an and indicat ator that at em embrac ace e al all of the e har arm that at res esults from drink k driving

• Har

armonise e rec ecording of BACs in fat atal al an and then en in life-chan anging collisions

Where to go from here?

• Har

armonise e monitoring of progres ess

• Keep

eep al all limits higher er than an 0.2g/l under er rev eview ew for possible e lower ering

• Improve

e peo eople’ e’s under erstan anding of how to keep keep within the e limit

• Res

esear earch how to hel elp police e to bal alan ance e det eter erren ence e an and det etec ection

• Consider

er rai aising pen enal alties es wher ere e thes ese e ar are e low

Where to go from here?

• Pr

Progres ess use e of al alcohol inter erlocks ks an and reh ehab abilitat ation courses es to ac achiev eve e more e tai ailored ed pen enal alties es an and red educe e reo eoffen ending

• En

Encourag age e use e of al alcohol inter erlocks ks for prev even ention

• Har

armonise e al alcohol inter erlock k tec echnology, req equire e fittab ability an and improve e conven enien ence e of use

www.et etsc.eu eu Thank you for your attention