Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving: Sobriety Checkpoints

(2000 Archived Review)

At sobriety checkpoints, law enforcement officers use a system to stop drivers to assess their level of alcohol impairment. There are two types of sobriety checkpoints: (1) random breath testing (RBT) checkpoints where officers randomly select and test drivers for blood alcohol levels; and (2) selective breath testing (SBT) checkpoints where officers must have reason to suspect a driver has been drinking before testing. SBT is the only type of sobriety checkpoint used in the United States.

Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends sobriety checkpoints based on strong evidence of their effectiveness in reducing alcohol-impaired driving, alcohol-related crashes, and associated fatal and nonfatal injuries.

Task Force Finding

Results from the Systematic Review

Twenty-three studies qualified for the review.

• Crashes thought to involve alcohol: median decrease of 18% for RBT checkpoints (interquartile interval: 22% to 13% decrease; 11 studies) and 20% for SBT checkpoints (interquartile interval: 27% to 13% decrease; 10 studies)
• Fatal crashes thought to involve alcohol: median decrease of 22% for RBT checkpoints (interquartile interval: 36% to 13% decrease; 6 studies) and decreases of 26% and 20% for SBT checkpoints (2 studies)
• Crashes declined regardless of the follow-up time of the study, with median decreases of 18% for follow-up times of less than one year and 17% for follow-up times of more than one year.

These results are based on a systematic review of all available studies led by scientists from CDC’s Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention with input from a team of specialists in systematic review methods and experts in research, practice and policy related to reducing alcohol-impaired driving.

Supporting Materials

• Evidence Gaps
• Summary evidence tables [PDF - 113KB]
• Included studies
  • Selective breath testing
  • Random breath testing
• Search Strategy

Publications

Shults RA, Elder RW, Sleet DA, et al. Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. [PDF - 67KB] Am J Prev Med  2001;21(4S):66–88.

Elder RW, Shults RA, Sleet DA, et al. Effectiveness of sobriety checkpoints for reducing alcohol-involved crashes. Traffic Injury Prevention 2002;3:266-74.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations to reduce injuries to motor vehicle occupants: increasing child safety seat use, increasing safety belt use, and reducing alcohol-impaired driving. [PDF - 2.30MB] Am J Prev Med 2001;21(4S):16–22.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Motor-vehicle occupant injury: strategies for increasing use of child safety seats, increasing use of safety belts, and reducing alcohol-impaired driving. MMWR Recommendations and Reports 2001;50(RR07):1-13.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Motor vehicle occupant injury. [PDF - 355KB] In : Zaza S, Briss PA, Harris KW, eds. The Guide to Community Preventive Services: What Works to Promote Health? Atlanta (GA): Oxford University Press;2005:329-84.

More Community Guide publications about the Prevention of Motor Vehicle-related Injuries

---



Sample Citation

The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Sample citation: Guide to Community Preventive Services. Reducing alcohol-impaired driving: sobriety checkpoints (2000 archived review). www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/AID/sobrietyckpts_archive.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.

Review completed: June 2000