Community-Coalition On Drug Awareness



Since the early 1980s, alcohol-related traffic deaths in the United States have been cut by more than half.

It has been estimated that reductions in driving after drinking prevented more than 300,000 deaths during this time period.

Several policies and law enforcement approaches have been found to reduce rates of drinking and driving and related traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths within the general population, among both youth and adults.



These DUI policies and enforcement approaches create deterrence by increasing the public’s awareness of the consequences of drinking and driving, including the possibility of arrest.

Some of these strategies include:

• 0.08 percent criminal per se legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limits, meaning that no further evidence of intoxication beyond a BAC of 0.08 percent is needed for a DUI case

• Sobriety Checkpoints

Other proven DUI prevention strategies fall under the rubric of indicated interventions as they target drivers who have been convicted of DUI to reduce recidivism:

• Lower legal blood alcohol limits for people convicted of DUI

• Mandatory ignition interlock laws for all convicted offenders, including first offenders

• Mandatory assessment and treatment of persons convicted of DUI

• DUI courts

• Continuous 24/7 alcohol monitoring of persons with one or multiple DUI charges

• Vehicle impoundment or immobilization

Rick Gale
Public Information & Education Committee
Gallatin County DUI Task Force