Work zone: drunk driving

Ashore, Winter, 2003

The Problem

* Impaired driving will affect one in three Americans nationwide during their lifetimes.

* Alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes nationwide kill someone every 30 minutes and injure someone every two minutes.

* Navy statistics for the last five years show Sailors are dying in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes at the rate of one every 17 days, compared to one every 6.1 days in previous years. Using these figures, a Sailor ending a 20-year career today will have seen 1,197 shipmates die in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes.

* Marine Corps statistics for the last five years show Marines are dying in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes at the rate of one every 29.5 days, compared to one every 13.8 days in previous years. Using these figures, a Marine ending a 20-year career today will have seen 459 fellow Marines die in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes.

Groups at Risk

* Nationwide, male drivers in fatal crashes are nearly twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a BAC of 0.10 percent or greater (exceeding the legal limit in all states).

* The risk of being involved in an alcohol-related motor-vehicle crash is greatest for 21-year-old Sailors and 22-year-old Marines.

* Nationwide, young men ages 18 to 20 (too young to buy alcohol legally) report driving impaired as often as men ages 21 to 34.

Risk Factors

* Drivers nationwide ages 35 and older who have been arrested for impaired driving are 11 to 12 times more likely than those who never have been arrested to die (eventually) in crashes involving alcohol.

* Nearly 75 percent of drivers nationwide convicted of driving while impaired are frequent heavy drinkers or alcoholics.

Navy/Marine Corps Prevention Initiatives

* Discuss the perils of drinking and driving during safety stand-downs and ORM-training sessions.

* Encourage use of a designated driver.

* Publish items in Plans of the Day and ship and station newspapers.

* Initiate a "safe cab" program, so Sailors and Marines can call a cab, rather than drive after they've been drinking.

* Stage shipmates' wrecked cars in view of all hands.

* Consider "intrusive leadership" as a way to stay connected with junior personnel and to enhance their survivability and welfare, particularly on weekends and holidays.

Resources

* Naval Safety Center (www.safetycenter.navy.mil/ashore/motorvehicle/)

* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/)

* AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (www.aaafoundation.org/home/)

* National Safety Council (www.nsc.org/issues/drivsafe.htm)

* National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/duip.htm#mv)