Motor Vehicle Safety

Revised and approved by the ACEP Board of Directors June 1997 and September 2008
Reaffirmed by the ACEP Board of Directors October 2001
Originally approved by the ACEP Board of Directors April 1985 

As an adjunct to this policy statement, ACEP's Trauma Care and Injury Control Committee developed a Policy Resource Education Paper (PREP), Motor Vehicle Safety: An Update for Emergency Physicians Practitioners.

Traumatic injury from motor vehicle crashes is one of the most frequent causes of injury to patients treated by emergency physicians. A multifaceted approach involving collaborative efforts between public and private organizations is essential to improve motor vehicle safety and thereby reduce society's burden of disability, death, and costs related to motor vehicle trauma.

Public education, laws and enforcement, and engineering enhancements have all been shown to play an important part in reducing motor vehicle trauma. The following legislative and law enforcement interventions should be fully implemented.

• Adopt and enforce primary enforcement safety belt use laws, and extend them to cover all seating positions in all motorized vehicles where feasible.
• Adopt and enforce state legislation to prohibit alcohol-impaired driving, specifically mandating that: a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 g/dL is per se evidence of driving while impaired; a BAC of 0.05 g/dL is presumptive evidence of impaired driving; and any measurable level of BAC while driving shall be illegal in persons younger than the legal drinking age in each state.
• Adopt and enforce laws requiring all motorcyclists, bicyclists, in-line skaters, skateboarders, and scooter users to wear helmets.
• Enforce existing speed limits, and oppose further increases in speed limits.
• Strengthen and enforce existing child safety seat laws and their use in appropriate locations within motor vehicles.

Emergency physicians must be knowledgeable about motor vehicle crash data, injury mechanisms, and the management of time critical injuries. ACEP encourages its members to take the lead in motor vehicle safety activities at the local, state and national levels.