508 Health impact of sobriety check points in Mexico city

Background Random breath testing for vehicle drivers is a cost-effective and widely recommended intervention to address drinking and driving. Since September 2003, in Mexico City were implemented random sobriety checkpoints. In 2008, Mexico City joined a comprehensive intervention program, the “Iniciativa Mexicana de Seguridad Vial” (IMESEVI), which also targeted drinking and driving. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the sobriety checkpoints on rates of collisions and injuries. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of official databases on mortality rate, hospital discharges rate, and collisions rate. Information was collected in the period from January, 1999 to December, 2014. We performed a time-series analysis to assess the trend. Twelve month seasonality was considered and the implementation of the IMESEVI in the city. Results We observed different effects in the monthly trend associated with the implementation of sobriety checkpoints in interaction with IMESEVI. A no significant decrease (p > 0.05) was observed for mortality rate (−0.05 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) and hospital discharges rate (−0.02 discharges per 100,000 inhabitants). The monthly trend for crash rate had a no significant increase (p > 0.05): 0.14 crashes per 100,000 inhabitants per month and 0.41 crashes per 100,000 vehicles per month. Conclusions Drinking and driving law enforcement in Mexico City is strongly implemented and socially accepted. Despite, legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 g/dl, above the recommended 0.04 g/dl. In order to improve drinking and driving legislation, and obtain better results for sobriety checkpoints, legal BAC levels must be adjusted and zero tolerance for novice driver may be included in the legislation. To improve the evaluation of alcohol consumption deterrence interventions, official registries may include alcohol consumption information.