@article{ref1,
title="Costs and benefits of a community sobriety checkpoint program",
journal="Journal of studies on alcohol",
year="1998",
author="Lawrence, Bruce A. and Galbraith, Maury S. and Miller, Ted R.",
volume="59",
number="4",
pages="462-468",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Alcohol-involved crashes cost society more than $100 billion a year. Sobriety checkpoints are effective in apprehending drunk drivers. This article compares the costs and the estimated monetary benefits from a hypothetical community sobriety checkpoint program. METHOD: The analysis is constructed around a hypothetical community with 100,000 licensed drivers. A literature review suggests that a generously funded intensive checkpoint program (156 checkpoints per year) can be expected to reduce alcohol-attributable crashes by about 15%. The benefits (cost savings) of the checkpoint program are calculated using 1993 alcohol-involved crash incidence from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Costs per alcohol-involved crash and the percentage of alcohol-involved crashes attributable to alcohol are updated from published studies. RESULTS: Estimated annual savings to the hypothetical community total $7.9 million. This includes $3.1 million for averted fatalities, $4.5 million for averted non-fatal injuries, and $0.3 million for averted property damage. Every $1 spent on a sobriety checkpoint program can be expected to save the community more than $6, including $1.30 of insurer costs. CONCLUSIONS: An intensive sobriety checkpoint program can save a community more in automobile crash costs than the program costs.",
language="",
issn="0096-882X",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}