NCJ Number
188764
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 45 Issue: 2 Dated: Winter, 2000 Pages: 23-33
Date Published
2000
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Psychosocial predictors of interventions to prevent drunk driving are examined.
Abstract
Alcohol related motor vehicle crashes and deaths continue to be one of the biggest preventable public health problems in the United States. Two hundred students at a medium sized university were surveyed, of these 119 returned usable surveys. Results showed that the copious difference between the intoxication levels of the drunk driver and sober driver may highlight the potential danger of allowing an intoxicated person to drive, leading to greater effort to intervene. Assuring that the sober driver does not drink any alcohol is critical to maintaining a materially high comparative level of impairment. Another predictor could be the moral/social responsibility that a person feels toward making a drunk driving intervention, demonstrating that this increased effort is explained by the person who intervenes’ moral/social obligation to intervene. The number of people this person consulted about the intervention, regardless of others’ support, significantly predicted the amount of effort expended in the drunk driving intervention. This implies that publicly highlighting the potential danger requires action to be taken. The data presented here, while collected from a relatively small sample in central Tennessee, add to the understanding of the motivation to intervene in a potential drunk driving situation. Research examining the underlying psychosocial reasons for the relationships observed in this research will not only support theory development but also provide an empirical basis for campaigns to reduce drunk-driving in the United States. 3 tables, 1 figure, 13 references.