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Drunken driving taking a toll on the West

While the state of affairs isn't as bad as in North America, the toll in Europe has long been a cause for concern.

Europe has a drinking problem, at least in combination with driving. The land that invented fine wines, great beers, champagne and a range of liquors also has tens of thousands of deaths and disabilities because of alcohol and drug-related road accidents each year.
"The number of people dying in the EU every year due to drunken driving is equivalent to the population of a small town," says Andrew McNeill from the Institute of Alcohol Studies. "Every single death is avoidable."
While the state of affairs isn't as bad as in North America, the toll in Europe has long been a cause for concern. It poses a challenge to producers, too. In countries known for humanist philosophies and a range of regulations, makers of alcohol want to ensure they are not held liable. Heineken, for instance, is a major sponsor of the F1 racing circuit. It runs a top-quality television ad during every race featuring iconic driver Jackie Stewart refusing a beer with the statement "no thanks, I'm driving".
But in Europe alcohol is seeped in history, cultures and customs. In some cultures wine with meals is as crucial as bread. A study by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon "has calculated that on an average 3.48 per cent of drivers in the European Union drive with alcohol in their blood; 1.9 per cent with illicit drugs; 1.4 per cent with medicinal drugs; and 0.37 per cent with a combination of alcohol and drugs," says Brendan Hughes, a scientific analyst at centre.
Young drinkers pose the biggest danger. Most of them are unaware of the after-effects of drinking, or lack perspective on how much they can safely drink. "Even a small blood alcohol concentration may impair the driving ability of the young, inexperienced drivers significantly," says Dr Horst Schulze at the German Federal Highway Research Institute BAST.
Anja Knoche, also from BAST, notes "a drunk driver is 7 to 10 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than an unimpaired driver. A driver who has cannabis in their system is twice as likely."
As a result policymakers continue to study what to do about it. Dr Peter Anderson, Professor of Substance Use, Policy and Practice at Newcastle University in the UK, says "policies that regulate the alcohol market, including the price of alcohol, location, density, and opening hours of sales outlets, minimum legal purchase ages, its promotion and advertising, can all have an impact in reducing drinking and driving fatalities."
According to a World Health Organisation study, the highest rate of alcohol-related road deaths is in South Africa, where some 58 per cent of fatalities involve alcohol. Second is Canada at 34 per cent and the US at 31 per cent. But France (29 per cent), Italy (25 per cent) and the UK (19 per cent) also have high ratios.
The entire subject is fraught with uncertainty as legal age limits for drinking, testing, and statistics vary greatly among countries.
The good news is that the prevalence of alcohol in daily European life could help limit its damage on the roads. Studies show that European youth are far less likely than their American counterparts to drink to intoxication at social events. Some see strict US values and laws on the drinking age as a ticking bomb. When they finally reach the legal drinking age of 21, American youth can go to the extreme in binge intoxication.
Another factor limiting the toll in Europe is its vast public transport system. Virtually every corner of Western Europe is served by train services, while in many countries across the globe that isn't the case. In the sprawling expanses of the United States, a car is required to get to most places.
In Europe, deaths due to drunken driving have been falling over the past decade, according to the European Transport Safety Council. The reductions have been most marked in the Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany. Only in Hungary, Lithuania, Finland, Spain and Great Britain the problem has become worse.
To many Europeans a social drink means conviviality. Experts and governments are working to ensure it doesn't turn into carnage.
Mariella Radaelli and Jon Van Housen are editors at the Luminosity Italia news agency in Milan