The effectiveness of a new law to reduce alcohol-impaired driving in Japan

Objectives: To estimate the impact of a new traffic law targeting alcohol-impaired driving in Japan. Methods: Japan passed a new traffic law in June 2002 with the aim of reducing the incidence of alcohol-impaired driving by reducing the permissible blood alcohol level and increasing penalties. Using data collected from police reports, the number of traffic fatalities and injuries for 7 months in the pre-law period (June 2001 to December 2001) and the same 7 months in the post-law period (June 2002 to December 2002) were compared. Results: Traffic fatalities decreased 7.8% and traffic fatalities involving alcohol-impaired driving decreased 26.7% after the introduction of the new traffic law. Traffic fatalities had been falling since 1993, but fell substantially faster after the law was passed. Conclusions: This study indicates that large, immediate public health benefits resulted from the implementation of the 2002 alcohol-impaired driving law in Japan.