DUI DWI Laws in Other Countries

Drunk Driving Laws in Other Countries

Executive Summary

Much of the progress that has been made in impaired driving in the last decade or more has been facilitated by lessons learned from other countries. It is therefore both timely and appropriate for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to sponsor a systematic effort to gather information about impaired driving laws from countries around the world. The intent of this effort is to contribute to our understanding of impaired driving countermeasures and of how the current situation in the United States compares to other countries. The parameters of the report are described below.

Countries Included

The primary purpose of this project is to provide comparisons with the United States, and therefore possible guidance in the development and implementation of impaired driving policies in this country. Therefore, the main focus of data collection was on countries that would be considered most directly comparable to the United States, economically and demographically, as well as those countries with which we have the most direct dealings. These countries include:

• Members of the European Union, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
• Other western European countries, including Norway and Switzerland
• Canada Mexico Australia New Zealand Japan
• Other countries of possible interest were included as data were available.

Laws Included

While many different laws are relevant to impaired driving, this project focused on several of the most important laws. These laws include:

Illegal blood alcohol content (BAC) levels for various classes of drivers; The minimum purchase age for alcohol; Age of driving licensure; Standard sanctions for first offenses and multiple offenses; The imposition of more severe sanctions for drivers with higher BACs Graduated licensing systems; Systems for the regranting of licenses.

Methodology

Most of the information for this report was gathered through inquiries from key informants identified in each of the countries of interest. Most informants were from government transportation agencies. Some informants were from relevant university departments. In some cased, available information was collected from other published or unpublished sources. Appendix A indicates the source(s) of information for each country.

Results The results of the overview of laws indicate some of the major differences across countries and some of the contrasts between the United States and other countries. Major findings include:

The illegal BAC for most of the United States is higher than for any of the other countries studied. The minimum purchase age for alcohol is older in the United States than for almost all other countries studied. Licensing age for most countries is some years older than the minimum purchase age for alcohol. Sanctions in other countries tend to be based primarily on arrest BAC.

The potential impact of international free trade agreements on laws and policies related to traffic safety must be considered in this context. Another important factor in international comparisons is the cultural differences reflected in public attitudes towards impaired driving and towards relevant laws.

Analysis of the relationship between laws related to impaired driving and the proportion of alcohol-related crashes is a logical next step. This analysis must be undertaken with caution because of the complicated measurement issues inherent in reporting of alcohol involvement in traffic crashes.

Background and Introduction

Much of the progress that has been made in impaired driving in the last decade or more has been facilitated by lessons learned from other countries. For example, the United States drew valuable lessons regarding deterrence from analyzing the results of the British Road Safety Act of 1967. Similarly, we have learned about alcohol policy and serious enforcement and penalties from some of the Scandinavian countries. The Australian experience with random breath testing has influenced some of our own enforcement efforts. It is therefore both timely and appropriate for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to sponsor a systematic effort to gather information about impaired driving laws from countries around the world. The intent of this effort is to contribute to our understanding of impaired driving countermeasures and of how the current situation in the United States compares to other countries. The parameters of the report are described below.

Countries Included The primary purpose of this project is to provide comparisons with the United States, and therefore possible guidance in the development and implementation of impaired driving policies in this country. Therefore, the main focus of data collection was on countries that would be considered most directly comparable to the US, economically and demographically, as well as those countries with which we have the most direct dealings. These countries include:

Members of the European Union, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Other western European countries, including Norway and Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Japan were also included.

Other countries of possible interest were included as data were available. These include Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Russia.

Laws Included While many different laws are relevant to impaired driving, this project focused on several of the most important laws. These laws include:

Illegal blood alcohol content (BAC) levels for various classes of drivers; The minimum purchase age for alcohol;

Age of driving licensure; Standard sanctions for first offenses and multiple offenses; The imposition of more severe sanctions for drivers with higher BACs Graduated licensing systems; Systems for the regranting of licenses.

For some countries, of course, laws are not standard nation-wide, but rather vary by state or province. Where this is the case, information about each sub-national entity is reported separately.

Methodology

Most of the information for this report was gathered through inquiries from key informants identified in each of the countries of interest. Most informants were from government transportation agencies. Some informants were from relevant university departments. In some cased, available information was collected from other published or unpublished sources.

Comparison of Impaired Driving and Related Laws

Impaired Driving Laws

Several types of legislation may play key roles in controlling impaired driving. These include the BAC level established as illegal, the sanctions imposed for impaired driving under different circumstances, the use of rehabilitation programs for offenders, and the system for regranting the licenses of offenders whose driving privilege has been suspended or revoked. Existing laws in each of these areas are described below.

Illegal BAC

All countries included in the study have established a blood alcohol content that is considered either per se or preemptive evidence of impairment. The illegal BAC level has been found to have an effect on impaired driving crashes (Johnson and Fell 1995, C berg 1995).

All of the countries studied had a BAC level lower than that established in most of the United States (.10).

The lowest illegal BAC level is in Sweden (.02). The majority of countries have established .05 as the illegal BAC, with the remaining countries maintaining an illegal level of .08. The trend has been downward in recent years, with nine countries having reduced the illegal BAC level within the past five years or with new lower limits about to be implemented. These recent reductions in illegal BAC levels have resulted in some pre-post evaluations of the effects of the change. Belgium lowered its limit to .05 in December of 1994, reporting a 14 percent reduction in fatalities in the following year. The legal limit in France was lowered to .05 in December of 1995. Fatal crashes in 1996 were reduced by 4 percent (ETSC 1997).

As mentioned above for driver licensing laws, a few countries have established a lower BAC for young drivers. Such laws have been found to be effective in the United States in reducing alcohol- related crashes among young drivers (Hingson et al. 1994, Blomberg 1992).

Interestingly, few countries have established lower BACs for drivers of commercial vehicles or vehicles used in public transportation. This is in contrast to laws in the United States regarding commercial drivers in which any alcohol present removes the driver from service for 24 hours and a BAC of .04 is a legal violation.