Volume 193 - Issue 9
How can we reduce alcohol-related road crash deaths among young Australians?
Author: Daryl R Wall
Med J Aust 2010; 193 (9): 560. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb04058.x
Published online: 1 November 2010
Published online: 1 November 2010
To the Editor: In response to Hall and colleagues,1 the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons supports any measures that have been proven to successfully reduce death and injury in young drivers. Raising the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to 21 years has been shown to significantly decrease road crash deaths in the United States.1
The College agrees with these authors that there would be major political obstacles and very little public support in Australia to increasing the MLDA; however, should the politicians and the public see first hand the devastating effects of alcohol on young people that our surgeons see on an all-too-regular basis, the mindset might change significantly. Hall and colleagues state other ways that we can achieve further reductions in road crash deaths — extending the zero-tolerance laws for young drivers until age 22 years, as it is in Victoria, or until 25 years for even further reductions.1 The College certainly supports this, particularly as evidence is building that the physical maturation of the part of the human brain that assesses risk and controls impulsive behaviour is not complete until age 25 years in men.2-4
The Trauma Committee is most concerned about alcohol-related trauma and will explore this issue at the annual Trauma Committee workshop, during the College’s Trauma Week. The workshop, entitled “Alcohol and injury”, will be held at the College in Melbourne on 18 November 2010.
Competing interests
I have received funding for travel and accommodation from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
References
- Hall WD, Wallace AL, Cobiac LJ, et al. How can we reduce alcohol-related road crash deaths among young Australians? Med J Aust 2010; 192: 464-466.
- Eshel N, Nelson EE, Blair RJ, et al. Neural substrates of choice selection in adults and adolescents: development of the ventrolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulated cortices. Neuropsychologia 2007; 45: 1270-1279. 0_CBBGCCFA
- Gogtay N, Giedd JN, Lusk L, et al. Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101: 8174-8179. 0_pgfId-2195029
- Hickie I. Alcohol and the teenage brain: safest to keep them apart. Sydney: Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, 2009. 0_CBBGEEEE