NCJ Number
74544
Date Published
1979
Length
105 pages
Annotation
Volume one of the final report on the New Hampshire Alcohol Safety Action Project (ASAP) contains descriptive and administrative evaluation findings related to the project's operation during 1972-1976. It also contains abstracts of other separately bound analytic studies which present evaluation findings concerning individual ASAP countermeasures.
Abstract
The New Hampshire ASAP was a federally funded, statewide effort designed to reduce the toll of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. The primary period of operation was from 1972 to 1976. In that time, the project's major accomplishments were: a more than three-fold increase in the number of annual DWI (driving while intoxicated) arrests; the replacement of blood testing with breath testing for evidentiary purposes in DWI arrests; the training of more than 500 police in DWI enforcement techniques and breathalyzer operation; the implementation of a comprehensive case-handling system for persons convicted of DWI; and the conduct of a large-scale public knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol impaired driving. During the 5 ASAP years, the annual total of fatal accidents fell 12 percent from the comparable total for the 5 years before the project. Fatal accident totals during ASAP represent a departure from the trend in effect before the project. Available evidence indicates that changes were in the sub-sets of accidents most likely to be alcohol-related. There is evidence that establishes a plausible relationship between ASAP enforcement and public information efforts and the decline in fatal alcohol related crashes. One table and nine figures illustrate the text. An index of project reports is included. (Author abstract modified)