Welcome to the
UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center newsletter

This Issue:
Driving Under the Influence
 

Driving under the influence (DUI) is the leading cause of traffic fatalities in California and perhaps the most preventable traffic safety problem: no one is compelled to drink alcohol and drive, and the vast majority of Americans have repeatedly expressed support for DUI prevention efforts.  However, after decades of steady decline, DUI is on the rise.

In this issue, we present a history of DUI prevention efforts in the U.S. dating back to the early 1930s, when lawmakers and safety researchers first began to address the problem in a concerted way. We take a look at past programs that may have helped in decreasing DUI fatalities in the 1980's and early 1990's and some current interventions that aim to repeat that success.  Marilyn Sabin of the California Office of Traffic Safety talks about the level of DUI awareness in California and Traffic Safety Center Director David Ragland discusses the policy implications of California's demographic trends. Also included in this issue is a look at a recent survey of the attitudes and behaviors of 19-25 year olds, the age group at highest risk for DUI-related fatalities.

We invite your thoughts and reactions to the topics presented here. Please use the send-us-your-comments link at the end of each story and at the bottom of each sidebar to email us your comments.

This newsletter was created by the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center (TSC) to disseminate important information on traffic safety topics most relevant to communities in California. The mission of the TSC is to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries through multi-disciplinary collaboration in education, research, and outreach. A main goal of the Center is to make traffic safety information available and accessible to public and private organizations, agencies, and businesses, and to individuals. 

The TSC newsletter is published quarterly. If you'd like to subscribe to the mailing list, please send us an email with "Subscribe" as the subject line. If you wish to remove yourself from the list and are not affiliated with UC Berkeley, please send an email with "Unsubscribe" as the subject.
 

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Photo courtesy of NHTSA

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.