[Impact of increasing number of road alcohol controls on the prevalence of driving under the influence in Italy].
In Italy the number of road controls for the driving under the influence of alcohol is significantly grown in the last years. In 2006 these controls have been around 250,000; in 2007, around 800,000. On the grounds of the data currently available one can estimate around 1,500,000 controls in 2008. At the same time a lowering percentage of drivers with blood alcohol concentration greather than the legal limit (equal to 0.5 g/l in Italy) has been recorded. Aforesaid percentage amounted to 15% and 6% in 2006 and 2007 respectively, with a lessening of 9 percent points. This reduction could plausibly be the outcome of the increased controls number on the italian roads. Likely, increased perception to be checked by the police has induced to a greater caution the drivers. However the controls are not random controls, but based on a 'well-founded suspicion', that is when the police is right to hold by their behavior that the drivers can be in state of drunkenness. This procedure prevents us from properly estimating the true effect. Therefore, carry out a suitable number of random controls besides the well-founded controls seems needed to quantify in accurate statistical way the proportion of drivers in state of drunkenness as well as its temporal trend.
"Environment and Trauma" Section, Environment and Primary Prevention Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health), Rome, Italy. taggi@iss.it
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D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D015995:Prevalence; D011049:Social Control Policies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*