Using roadblocks to reduce drunk driving: public health or law and order?

Drunk drivers are a major threat to public health. The number of motor vehicle deaths involving alcohol in the United States over the past decade totals 250,000--over four times the number of US deaths during the Vietnam War. Drunk drivers also cause about 2,000 injuries each day, of which one-tenth are serious. Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death for all Americans between the ages of 5 and 35 years, and intoxicated drivers play a most prominent role in this traffic carnage: over half of all fatal motor vehicle crashes are alcohol-related. This article addresses this problem and advocates the use of drunk-driver roadblocks as one way of dealing with this major public health problem.