During the 1970s, alcohol was involved in roughly two-thirds of all U.S. traffic fatalities — a clear sign that something needed to change. Luckily, in the following decades, circumstances did begin to improve.
The launch of multi-faceted public relations and education campaigns coupled with the strengthening of laws that targeted dangerously impaired drivers, as well as the increased use of seatbelts and airbags, led to a steep decline in traffic deaths. In fact, alcohol-related traffic fatalities dropped by 53 percent between 1982 and 2011.
