Abstract

CELLERI, Milagros; BRUNELLI, Maximiliano; CESAN, Marianela  and  DE LELLIS, Martín. Public policies for the reduction of traffic accidents due to alcohol consumption in Argentina. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2021, vol.38, n.3, pp.275-286. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2021.38.3.16.

In Argentina 5 000 people die every year in traffic accidents, and driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the main risk factors. The accidents produce social, psychological and physical sequels and they are the main cause of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the main risk factors involved in traffic accidents. This is the main cause of death in young people (15-34 years old) who are exposed to episodic excessive alcohol consumption (ingestion of a great amount of alcohol in a short period of time), a frequent activity among adolescents during the weekends. The main goal of this revision is to know which public policies have been effective to reduce the alcohol related traffic accidents around the world, and also to know the current legislation in our country and which one of those policies has been implemented and what are the results of those policies.

The search was conducted in: Psycinfo, Dialnet, Lilacs, Scielo and Pubmed. The words used were “Alcohol”, “Tránsito”, “Accidents”, and “Alcoholemia'' in Spanish, and in English: “Alcohol”, “Traffic”, “Crashes”, and “Breathalyzer”. The studies included were results studies of the implementation of accident reduce policies (when they were measured), and reviews that were published in the last five years. However, relevant studies published in English or Spanish before 2015 were included.

Out of 448 studies, 12 were included. The countries studied were Brazil, Mexico, Spain, United States of America, Norway, Botswana and Australia. It was found that in our country the application of some public policies had been effective against alcohol related traffic accidents, such as random breath tests, although there is no information about the results of the implementations of these policies. There were found actions that do not show enough evidence that justify their implementation, actions such as “Designated driver”.

The relationship between traffic accidents and alcohol consumption is overwhelming. Different countries have proposed policies to reduce alcohol related traffic accidents. One of the most successful policies found was the limitations of blood alcohol content and the use of breathalyzers. With the exception of Norway, a country in which there were not good results. In Argentina the use of breathalyzers is implemented, but there are no studies about its efficacy, and the limitation of blood alcohol content is the same as in other countries (0.05 g/dl). Other policies that seem to be effective are the time restrictions for selling alcohol, where in most cases it is prohibited to sell alcohol between 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. In Argentina there is a regulation that specifies the time frame within alcohol can be sold but, again, there are no studies about its efficacy. Other policies such as awareness campaigns in night clubs and the “designated driver” or “designated driving” have not been supported by the evidence on results studies (for example, in Spain). These policies have been implemented in Argentina, again without result studies. Our review concludes in the importance of the evaluation, study and measure of the impact of the specific policies in this relevant problem. This would provide evidence that would allow the development of policies and well designed and evidence-based interventions. More specifically, it is recommended to consider proposals such as re evaluation of the minimum age allowed for alcohol consumption; more severe penalties and the removal of vehicles in cases of test positive on a breathalyzer; decrease in the limit of alcohol level permitted while driving for new and young drivers and increase taxes on alcoholic beverages.

The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to develop research programs that generate consistent evidence towards this major health problem.

Keywords : alcohol; accidents; public policies; breathalyzer; Argentina.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )