Sunday alcohol sales cause crash rise

A New Mexico study has found that alcohol-related car crash deaths have risen 49 percent since the state repealed a law prohibiting alcohol sales on Sundays.

Since the end of the law, which prohibited stores from selling alcohol but made exceptions for restaurants and bars, overall alcohol-related crashes have risen 29 percent, WebMD reported Monday. Alcohol-related collision deaths on Sundays rose 42 percent after alcohol sales were allowed in licensed stores.

Researchers at Albuquerque's Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest studied traffic accident data recorded from July 1990-June 2000. The alcohol law was repealed in July 1995.

"Our results strongly suggest that increasing alcohol availability on Sunday is associated with increases in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and fatalities," the researchers wrote.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International