Road traffic crashes leading cause of death among young people
New WHO report marks First UN Global Road Safety Week

Report: Youth and Road Safety [pdf 3.0Mb]


3. Preventing road traffic injuries among children and young people
3.2 Specific interventions that have proved effective

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption before using the roads – whether as a driver or a pedestrian – increases
the likelihood of a crash occurring, as well as the likelihood that death or serious injury will result.

The risk of a road traffic crash begins to increase significantly at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.04 g/dl and rises steeply after that for each small increase in BAC.

Youth and alcohol — In many countries, a high proportion of car and motorcycle drivers involved in crashes are under the influence of alcohol. Many of these are young road users under the age of 25 years. Age is a factor that has a bearing on the risk of young people who have consumed alcohol incurring road traffic injuries.

A number of interventions that have been tried, particularly in high-income countries, have led
to declining numbers of traffic deaths related to alcohol use among young road users.

These strategies have included the following:

o Introducing laws on blood alcohol concentration


o Enforcing blood alcohol limits


o Restricting young or inexperienced drivers


o Raising the legal drinking age


o Introducing disincentives for drink–driving


o Restricting the availability of alcohol to young drivers


o Implementing designated driver programmes


o Mass media campaigns

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