THE NATURE OF AND THE REASONS FOR THE WORLDWIDE DECLINE IN DRINKING AND DRIVING. INTRODUCTION

This introduction to Circular 422 explains that a special session was held at the Traffic Safety on Two Continents International Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, on September 23, 1993, to discuss the very significant worldwide reduction over the past decade in the incidence of drinking and driving. The presentations covered the nature of the decline and the reasons for it in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. The pattern and reasons for the reduction vary from country to country. Some show large reductions among young drivers; others do not. Some show an improvement in the number of pedestrian alcohol fatalities and in other countries that is not the case. Also discussed are alcohol consumption and the economic conditions in the various countries and what role they played. In addition to the countries that made presentations, colleagues from France prepared a paper describing what occurred in their country. A summary of that paper is included in this circular. Also included is a summary of the general discussion that followed the formal presentations.