Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
Injury. 2013 Dec;44 Suppl 4:S11-6. doi: 10.1016/S0020-1383(13)70207-9.
Drunk driving is an important risk factor for road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths. After June 2008, all drivers in Brazil were subject to a "Zero Tolerance Law" with a set breath alcohol concentration of 0.1 mg/L of air. However, a loophole in this law enabled drivers to refuse breath or blood alcohol testing as it may self-incriminate. The reported prevalence of drunk driving is therefore likely a gross underestimate in many cities.
To compare the prevalence of drunk driving gathered from police reports to the prevalence gathered from self-reported questionnaires administered at police sobriety roadblocks in two Brazilian capital cities, and to estimate a more accurate prevalence of drunk driving utilizing three correction techniques based upon information from those questionnaires.
In August 2011 and January-February 2012, researchers from the Centre for Drug and Alcohol Research at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul administered a roadside interview on drunk driving practices to 805 voluntary participants in the Brazilian capital cities of Palmas and Teresina. Three techniques which include measures such as the number of persons reporting alcohol consumption in the last six hours but who had refused breath testing were used to estimate the prevalence of drunk driving.
The prevalence of persons testing positive for alcohol on their breath was 8.8% and 5.0% in Palmas and Teresina respectively. Utilizing a correction technique we calculated that a more accurate prevalence in these sites may be as high as 28.2% and 28.7%. In both cities, about 60% of drivers who self-reported having drank within six hours of being stopped by the police either refused to perform breathalyser testing; fled the sobriety roadblock; or were not offered the test, compared to about 30% of drivers that said they had not been drinking.
Despite the reduction of the legal limit for drunk driving stipulated by the "Zero Tolerance Law," loopholes in the legislation permit many drivers under the influence of alcohol to act with impunity. In this context the police/traffic officers are often powerless to enforce the law and thus drunk driving continues to go unchecked.
Strong legislation and effective enforcement are necessary to reduce the prevalence of this dangerous behaviour. Correction techniques allow calculation of a truer prevalence of drunk driving, which can assist police and policymakers alike to redirect resources and align strategies.
酒后驾车是道路交通事故、伤害和死亡的一个重要危险因素。自 2008 年 6 月以来，巴西所有司机都受到了“零容忍法”的约束，规定呼气酒精浓度为 0.1 毫克/升空气。然而，该法律的一个漏洞使得司机可以拒绝呼气或血液酒精测试，因为这可能会自证其罪。因此，许多城市报告的酒后驾车率可能严重低估。
比较从警方报告中收集的酒后驾车率与从巴西两个首都的警察清醒路障处自行报告的问卷中收集的酒后驾车率，并利用基于这些问卷信息的三种校正技术估计更准确的酒后驾车率。
2011 年 8 月和 2012 年 1 月至 2 月，南里奥格兰德联邦大学药物和酒精研究中心的研究人员在巴西首都帕尔马和特雷西纳的 805 名自愿参与者中进行了一项关于酒后驾车行为的路边采访。使用了三种技术，包括报告在过去六小时内饮酒但拒绝呼气测试的人数等措施，来估计酒后驾车的流行率。
在帕尔马和特雷西纳，呼气中酒精检测呈阳性的人的比例分别为 8.8%和 5.0%。利用校正技术，我们计算出这些地点更准确的流行率可能高达 28.2%和 28.7%。在这两个城市，大约 60%的自我报告在被警察拦下的六个小时内饮酒的司机要么拒绝进行呼气酒精测试；逃离清醒路障；或者没有被提供测试，而大约 30%的司机表示他们没有饮酒。
尽管“零容忍法”降低了酒后驾车的法定限制，但立法中的漏洞允许许多醉酒司机逍遥法外。在这种情况下，警察/交通警察往往无力执行法律，因此酒后驾车继续不受检查。
强有力的立法和有效执法是减少这种危险行为流行率所必需的。校正技术可以计算出更准确的酒后驾车率，这可以帮助警察和政策制定者重新分配资源和调整策略。
