Fichier: 

Focus n7.pdf

Couverture: 

Preface by Professor Claude Got

The number of alcohol-related accidents seems to reveal major inconsistencies, both at the level of French regions and between the different countries
compared. These differences can be explained by the behaviour of drivers, of those responsible for control systems and finally, of the agencies responsible for
producing statistics.
Italian results lack credibility, and this situation has prevailed for many years. If we are to believe that a country where the alcohol consumption per inhabitant is similar to ours only experiences 1% of alcohol-related accidents, this means that there is no rigorous detection of alcohol after an accident, and above all that there is no collection of blood test results. Alcohol is most frequently incriminated in serious accidents, and it is precisely in such a context that breath tests cannot be carried out. Statistics must take account of blood test results, which, in Italy, are not collected by the agency drawing up the relevant statistics.
The situation in the United Kingdom is exemplary. The first reliable fuel cells enabling the production of accurate and inexpensive electronic alcohol tests were developed in this country, and drinkdriving policies were promulgated at a very early stage, at the initiative of a remarkable Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle. Dissuasion is so effective that the United Kingdom experiences about four times fewer alcohol-related traffic accidents than in France.
In France, recent developments have been fascinating. Effective policies in favour of road safety have recently been reactivated through the adoption of new penal procedures, a clamp-down on excessive leniency, changes to the number of points lost for certain offences and the development of automated control systems. The results have been spectacular: 2500 fewer people were killed during the past 12 months when compared with the year that preceded these changes in June 2002.
Average speeds have fallen, as has the number of alcohol-related accidents. It is difficult to make a distinction between improvements due to a reduction in alcohol consumption by drivers and those resulting from lower road speeds, with an equal level of alcohol intoxication. The two variables are not independent when considering the risk of accidents. Nevertheless, there are still too many differences in the quality of preventive and dissuasive detection with respect to driving under the influence of alcohol. Some regions with high levels of alcohol-related conditions may have low positive detection results outside accident context, because tests are not performed during weekend

Including interviews with:
Marie-Berthe Biecheler Fretel (French National Institute of Research into Transport and Safety, France)
Rob Tunbridge (Transport Research Laboratory, United Kingdom)
Pierangelo Sardi (Italian Society for the Psychology of Road Safety, Italy)