New research says anti-drunk driving campaigns should include pedestrians, cyclists

State Highway Safety Offices and their partners should broaden their anti-drunk driving campaigns to encourage cyclists and pedestrians to consider safer transportation alternatives after heavy drinking. The US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has reported that the ratios of fatally injured alcohol-impaired bicyclists and pedestrians has not fallen as dramatically as the proportion of impaired motor vehicle drivers killed and this remains a significant problem. In fact more than one-third o
April 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
State Highway Safety Offices and their partners should broaden their anti-drunk driving campaigns to encourage cyclists and pedestrians to consider safer transportation alternatives after heavy drinking.

The US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has reported that the ratios of fatally injured alcohol-impaired bicyclists and pedestrians has not fallen as dramatically as the proportion of impaired motor vehicle drivers killed and this remains a significant problem. In fact more than one-third of pedestrians and one-fifth of bicyclists killed in crashes in 2014 were legally drunk.

Alcohol impairment can lead to unsafe behaviour by bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as drivers. We agree with IIHS's recommendations to curtail over-serving alcohol and to support more ride-sharing options. These strategies could complement the range of proven countermeasures to decrease risks for pedestrians and bicyclists and prevent deaths across the board for all road users. We also concur with IIHS that further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to reduce alcohol-impairment among bicyclists and pedestrians.

This IIHS research finding comes on the heels of GHSA's annual pedestrian safety report, which projects an unprecedented 11 per cent increase in pedestrian fatalities in 2016, further illustrating the need to recalibrate our traffic safety efforts to better protect all road users.

Related Content

  • April 25, 2017
    Most crash reports do not capture critical data, says National Safety Council
    A National Safety Council review of motor vehicle crash reports from across the US found no state fully captures critical data needed to address and understand the rise in roadway fatalities. Crash reports from all 50 states lack fields or codes for law enforcement to record the level of driver fatigue at the time of a crash, while many others lack fields to capture texting, hands-free cell phone use and specific types of drug use if drugs are detected, including marijuana. Excluding these fields limits the
    Read More
  • July 24, 2012
    Driving forward cooperative intersection safety applications
    Gregory Davis, FHWA, John Harding, NHTSA, and Mike Schagrin, ITS Joint Program Office (RITA) chart the course for cooperative intersection safety applications being pursued as part of the IntelliDrive programme. Crashes at intersections accounted for 8,703 highway fatalities in the US in 2008. Research and development is moving forward on IntelliDriveSM safety applications designed to help drivers avoid intersection accidents. These new safety systems could substantially drive down the highway death and inj
    Read More
  • April 9, 2014
    ITS homes in on cycling safety
    A new generation of ITS equipment is helping road authorities get to grips with cycle safety – and not a moment too soon as Colin Sowman discovers. Cyclists - remember them? Apparently not. At least not according to the OECD 2013 report Cycling, Health and Safety which contains the statement: ‘Cyclists are often forgotten in the design of the road traffic system’. Looking through the statistics that exist (each country appears to compile them differently) it is not difficult to see how such a conclusion cou
    Read More
  • August 6, 2014
    CRASH aids crash reduction
    Announcing a decrease in traffic fatalities in Tennessee, US, earlier this year, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security indicated preliminary figures of 988 traffic fatalities in 2013, a 2.7 per cent decrease compared to 2012, when there were 1,015 traffic fatalities. At the same time, Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Colonel Tracy Trott said: “In 2014, we will employ a predictive analytics model to look even more closely at where traffic crashes are most likely to occur and deploy our res
    Read More

Highlighted Content