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In the 1980s, laws in the U.S. set the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold at 0.08% for driving under the influence; alcohol-related fatal motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) progressively declined, but only until 1995. Researchers examined reasons for this phenomenon by comparing 2006–2007 data from two national surveys of weekend, nighttime driving (6863 fatal noncommercial MVAs and 6823 drivers in a roadside survey). Methodology was similar to that of a 1996 study, to which the results were compared.
The percentage of alcohol-related fatal MVAs was similar in 1996 and 2007. Compared with sober men aged 21 to 34, sober males under age 21 had 3.4 times the relative risk (RR) of dying in a single-vehicle crash (twice the 1996 risk). At an…