This study compared the driving records of 106,214 persons arrested for drug offenses in 1989 with 41,493 drivers from the general driving population. The drug arrestees were categorized according to the six summary offense classes used by the California Department of Justice, which were felony narcotics, marijuana, dangerous drugs, and other drugs, and misdemeanor marijuana and other drugs. Timeframes studied were 1-year pre-arrest, 1-year post-arrest, and 2-years post-arrest. Each drug arrestee group had significantly more traffic violations and total accidents than the control group, except for 2-year post-arrest accidents for the felony narcotics group. Measures of accident culpability revealed that drug arrestees were more apt to be responsible for the accidents in which they were involved than was the general driving population. Individuals arrested for drug offenses clearly pose an elevated traffic safety risk.
This article is an update of earlier surveys of the functioning of methadone-maintained individuals, and includes laboratory tests of cognition, perceptual and motor functioning, reaction-time, and attentional functioning, as well as performance in simulated driving situations. Field studies include epidemiological studies of automobile driving behavior and employability studies. The authors conclude that methadone maintenance treatment, when appropriately administered, does not impair functional capacity. Methadone patients can successfully perform tasks for which they are qualified.
Sobriety checkpoints are a deterrent to alcohol-impaired driving if they are conducted often. For a sobriety checkpoint to be an effective deterrent, though, the police officers must be reasonably competent in identifying the alcohol-impaired drivers passing through it. Officers have limited time and few cues on which to make judgments about impairment. This study examines the use of passive alcohol sensors by police officers as a screening device to provide an objective indication of alcohol in the driver's breath. Police officers using standard checkpoint procedures identified 26 percent of drivers with blood alcohol concentrations between 0.05 percent and <0.10 percent and 55 percent of drivers with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.10 percent or higher. Officers using the passive alcohol sensors had detection rates of 39 percent and 71 percent, respectively.
This literature survey reviews the effects of alcohol on human behavior and performance, especially low alcohol dose effects. This review consisted of 155 empirical studies dating from 1985 to mid-1993, using the alcohol effect schema of Kruger. Several general conclusions that were largely in agreement with previous reviews on this topic were reached. First, sensitivity to the subjective intoxicating effects of alcohol was greater than that for all other performance classes and appeared to display a threshold with respect to blood alcohol concentration (BAC), rather than the linear relation evident in performance data. Second, sensitivity to performance impairment in controlled performance and simulator tasks was greater than that for psychophysical function or automatic performance. Finally, a variety of task-, subject-, and environmental-characteristics or conditions were found to mediate the magnitude and sensitivity to alcohol effects, particularly at lower doses. This review concluded that since alcohol sensitivity can vary from time to time, person to person, and situation to situation, the setting of a safe BAC will always be arbitrary, being based on a low, but non-zero, incidence of effects below that level.
Modern drunk driving laws strongly depend on blood alcohol content (BAC) evidence obtained from breath tests, but nearly one in five persons requested by police to take a breath test refuses. This study conducted in Minnesota examines the causes and consequences of such refusal. The causes seem to lie in confusion and incompetence of the impaired driver, rational calculation of the costs and benefits of refusal, and general or situational hostility of the suspect. Consequences of refusal include a lower likelihood of conviction, especially of an alcohol-related offense. Minnesota's law criminalizing certain refusals has resulted in a slightly lower refusal rate and an increase in the rate of conviction for an alcohol-related offense.
The Victim Impact Panel (VIP) is a group of three or four speakers who were seriously injured or whose loved one was killed in a driving while intoxicated (DWI) crash. VIPs present personal stories to DWI offenders with the primary goal of reducing DWI recidivism. This study compares the pre-panel DWI rates with the post-panel recidivism rates of over 2,000 DWI offenders who attended VIPs in Oregon and California. The same rates are compared to the rates of age-sex matched control groups of drivers. The control subjects were convicted of DWI in the same states at the same time period, but were not ordered to attend the VIP. Data for 683 no-shows were also studied. The results reveal that, although in Oregon the VIP attendees had a lower rate of recidivism than their matched control group, the recidivism rate of attendees was not different than that of the no-shows or the age-sex matched control group for the no-shows. In California, no differences were observed in recidivism rates between the VIP group and either the no-show group or the two control groups. VIPs may be a more effective tool for more mature offenders (those 35+ years old). Explanations on the lack of effectiveness of the VIP and suggestions for improvement of the process are offered.
These introductory comments summarize the current situation with regard to alcohol-related traffic fatalities and legislative initiatives for preventing drunk driving. The theories underlying interventions to change behavior are then examined. There are three major theories: rational empirical; normative/reeducative; and power coercive. Final comments concern the Haddon Matrix factors that may reduce crash fatalities and injuries. These include human, vehicle, and environmental factors for pre-event, event, and post-event.
Benzodiazepines (BZDs)--commonly prescribed drugs for insomnia and anxiety--may increase accident risks in traffic without a definitive concentration-effect relationship. Alcohol, however, increases accident proneness concentration dependently. This survey analyzes the concentration-effect relationship of these agents in field conditions in terms of performance on the clinical test for drunkenness (CTD), which is a set of motor, vestibular, mental, and behavioral subtests developed in Finland to examine drunken drivers. Currently, the CTD is used only when drivers are suspected of driving under the influence of drugs other than alcohol. To understand drug effects on CTD performance, blood and urine samples of a total of 1,069 Finnish drivers were analyzed for BZDs and alcohol. Final analysis involved 327 cases. Impairments on the CTD correlated significantly both to blood alcohol concentration and to blood BZD concentration. The results verify the sensitivity of the CTD in revealing alcohol-induced impairments of psychomotor performance, and also reveal a clear concentration-response relationship between CTD performance and blood BZD concentrations.
In August 1988, a mandatory license plate impoundment law took effect that required driving while intoxicated (DWI) violators arrested for a third time to relinquish all license plates for impoundment and destruction. Initially, the law was administered through the court system. The law was amended in December 1990 to parallel the state's per se law in which the arresting officer issues the impoundment order at the time of arrest. Survival analysis is used to compare recidivism of violators in three treatment and two comparison groups. No evidence exists that the judge's impoundment order (during the court phase) had any significant impact on violator recidivism. However, violators who received impoundment orders after the law became administrative recidivated less frequently than those who did not, suggesting that license plate impoundment is a practical countermeasure in helping to reduce the impaired-driver problem.
Youthful age is a major personal characteristic associated with increased crash risk. The crash rates of young drivers are markedly higher than those of other age groups, including the elderly. Immaturity manifested by risky behavior and driving inexperience are thought to be the primary reasons for the heightened crash risk of youthful drivers. In addition, young drivers are particularly susceptible to impairment by alcohol. Measures that delay licensure and that result in initial driving experience being accumulated in lower risk settings can reduce the problem, along with measures that reduce the availability of alcohol or otherwise discourage alcohol use.
This is a review of the book Apprehending and Prosecuting the Drunk Driver by Harvey M. Cohen and Joseph B. Green (New York: Matthew Bender & Co., Inc., 1992, 2nd release update available July 1994). The book is a comprehensive drunk driving manual for prosecutors and police. From the arresting officer's first observations of the drunk driver weaving in the road to the closing argument made by the prosecution in the drunk driving trial, this book covers the full range of issues that arise in drunk driving cases. The book is a long-needed synthesis of the scientific and legal resources needed to successfully prosecute the drunk driver. Its well-organized chapters make it easy for police and prosecutors to access material necessary to resolve legal or scientific issues in drunk driving cases. The book also has an extensive index and table of cases allowing ready access to the over 200 pages of information set forth in the publication. This review highly recommends this publication.
This paper describes the limitations of quasi-experimental evaluation procedures frequently used in assessing driving under the influence (DUI) educational and remediation treatment programs. Although conventional designs for removing bias can be flawed, examples are cited in which relatively unequivocal inferences can be reached in terms of the presence or absence of a positive treatment effect. In general, it is believed that randomized experimental designs are superior to quasi-experiments and should be used much more extensively than has been the case.
A message response testing study was conducted with several hundred teenagers and young adults to explore perceptions and evaluation of television spots on responsible drinking and drunk driving. Nine ads presented by beer companies were compared to nine non-industry public service announcements (PSAs). The brewer-sponsored spots tend to produce dual responses among young viewers. On one hand, many regard these ads as promoting beer consumption; others interpret the campaign slogans as permitting liberal consumption amounts, even in risky situations. Most young viewers detect commercial and public relations elements in these campaigns, and they rate the informative and motivational qualities of the prevention appeals as mediocre. The industry spots receive less positive ratings and are judged to be less effective than conventional PSAs. At the same time, viewers feel there is a genuine prevention-oriented purpose and that the spots offer sensible advice that is mildly influential in fostering responsible drinking. These favorable aspects of their evaluations apparently contribute to the positive images and attitude change toward the corporate sponsors, and suggest that a limited prosocial impact may result from exposure to the ads.
In this conference presentation, a model is described that the authors developed to help summarize the current state of knowledge about reducing injuries related to impaired driving and to help promote discussions of where we need to go in this area. The presentation concludes with descriptions of studies that evaluate specific alcohol-control policies.
In this conference presentation, a macro level, or systems, model for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and fatal crashes is discussed. The discussion begins with background information on how the model was developed and why it contains only four variables. The variables are: (1) Norms, in terms of drinking, driving, riding, DWI or RWID (riding with an impaired driver); (2) Availability of alcohol, cars, drivers, places to go fast; (3) Formal social controls of drinking, cars and driving; and (4) Environmental pressure (which can be either risk-enhancing or risk-reducing).
Three levels of drivers' behavior influencing risk are shown in the literature: a basic attitude towards safety at a general level, the behavioral features in usual driving situations, and the drivers' reaction in accident situations. The accident and its seriousness for a driver would result from his choices at these behavioral levels. Research studies carried out in France and within the framework of the European program PROMETHEUS investigate separately each of these behavioral levels and provide knowledge on the risk process leading to an accident. The work presented here is an attempt to link this previous research and to propose a global and consistent approach to risk, highlighting the advantages of integrating the three levels considered in preventive action. The method involves analyzing the relations between drivers' behavior and accidents. It is based on the hypothesis of stable driving habits in the traffic system, largely influenced by social-cultural factors with different potentials for accident involvement. In the presentation of the results, investigators give priority to the system of factors related to alcohol. In conclusion, the possibility of safety actions such as regulatory action or driving aids are discussed.
To reduce the involvement of young drivers in alcohol-related crashes, 29 States and the District of Columbia have established lower legal blood alcohol limits for drivers younger than age 21 than for adult drivers. Of these, 12 lowered the legal limit for young people prior to 1991. To assess the impact, these 12 States were paired for comparison with 12 nearby States matched for legal drinking age and timing of changes in that law. Among drivers ages 15-20, fatal crashes involving a single vehicle at night are three times more likely than other fatal crashes to be alcohol-related. Whether the proportion of fatal crashes that involved single vehicles at night declined more among young drivers targeted by lower blood alcohol limits than among young drivers of the same age in comparison States was examined. The maximum available equal number of pre- and post-law years were compared in each pair of States. During the post-law period, the proportion of fatal crashes that involved single vehicles at night declined 16 percent among young drivers targeted by lower blood alcohol laws, whereas it rose 1 percent among drivers of the same age in comparison States where blood alcohol limits were not changed (P < .001). Among adults, the proportion of fatal nocturnal crashes that involved single vehicles declined 5 percent in the group of States with the lowered levels for young people during the period after the law was enacted and 6 percent in the group of neighboring comparison States. The proportion of fatal crashes that involved single vehicles at night declined 22 percent among drivers in States with .00 percent limits, whereas it declined only 2 percent among drivers of the same age in comparison States (P <.003). Among those targeted by .02 percent BAL limits, the proportion of fatal crashes that involved single vehicles at night declined 17 percent. It rose 4 percent in comparison States(P = .005). No significant difference appeared between States that lowered blood alcohol levels to the range of .04-.06 percent relative to comparison States.If all States adopted .00 or .02 percent limits for drivers ages 15-20, at least 375 fatal single vehicle crashes at night would be prevented each year.
The current status of research and evaluation studies of beverage is described using Flay's (1986) distinction between efficacy and effectiveness trials. Responsible beverage service (RBS) refers to a set of strategies taken at places where alcohol is served to reduce the likelihood of patron intoxication or to reduce the risk of harm related to intoxication. Whereas early research studies sought to evaluate the potential value of RBS as a prevention intervention, current research is much more interested in understanding factors that influence the effective implementation of RBS programs, usually within a community or state level of application. Studies are summarized showing representative stages in the evolution from efficacy to effectiveness research. Experience and data from a community trial project still in the field are used to illustrate how research questions related to responsible beverage service programs have changed over the past ten years.
This paper explains how mass communication is being used in a comprehensive community prevention trial in two communities in California and one in South Carolina to reduce alcohol-involved traffic injuries and deaths. The community prevention trial described here employs five intervention strategies: 1) mass communication and community mobilization; 2) drinking and driving enforcement; 3) responsible beverage service at bars and restaurants; 4) underage drinking reduction; and 5) limitation of access to alcohol to reduce high-risk drinking. The synergy of the five components is being tested, that is, how and in what ways do the intervention strategies reinforce each other? Mass communication plays an important role in the intervention strategies. First, the news media are used to increase public awareness of alcohol-involved trauma and public support of alcohol prevention policies. An example of such a policy is stricter driving under the influence (DUI) enforcement. Second, mass communication is used to increase the public's perceived risk of detection and arrest for drinking and driving. Third, mass communication is also used to increase community support of law enforcement activities, especially high profile DUI checkpoints and use of passive blood alcohol content sensors.
This conference presentation examines the deterrent effect of driving while intoxicated (DWI) educational programs on DWI recidivism. DWI education programs have as their objective a reduction of drinking and driving events. They are predicated on the notion that people are arrested for DWI because they don't know any better and that given the appropriate information, they would make better choices. Education programs are not treatment programs. They focus on first-time offenders. The educational curriculum in these programs usually includes information on why people drink and drive, on the effects of alcohol, on the consequences of drinking and driving, and on how to avoid repeat DWIs. In a few areas, the complexity of driving skills is addressed. Several studies which have evaluated DWI education programs are discussed, followed by a discussion of future trends in these programs. In conclusion, it is pointed out that, within DWI educational programs, we have really done very little to explore and fully examine the effectiveness of the variety of options available.
