DRINKING DRIVERS AND THEIR TRAFFIC RECORDS, PART I - THE EFFECTS OF A COUNTERMEASURES PROGRAM IN REDUCING THE RECIDIVISM OF DRUNK DRIVING, PART 2 - A STUDY OF DRIVERS INVOLVED IN FATAL ACCIDENTS - FINAL REPORT

• NCJ Number: 25028
• Author(s): J R NEWMAN; S KIRBY; A W MCEACHERN
• Date Published: 1975
• Length: 48 pages
• Contract Number(s): DOT-HS-101-2-452
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Admin
• Corporate Author: University of Southern California
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE FIRST STUDY MEASURES IMPROVEMENT IN DRIVING HABITS FOR DRUNK DRIVERS ASSIGNED TO SIX TREATMENT PROGRAMS, WHILE THE SECOND COMPARES THE DRIVING RECORDS OF DRINKING AND NON-DRINKING DRIVERS INVOLVED IN FATAL CRASHES.

Abstract

PART I PRESENTS THE RESULTS OF A STUDY INVESTIGATING THE EFFICACY OF SEVERAL COUNTERMEASURE TREATMENT PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE RECIDIVISM OF DRUNK DRIVING. SIX GROUPS OF CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVERS WERE ASSIGNED TO SIX TREATMENT PROGRAMS. TWO WERE ASSIGNED TO GROUP THERAPY; TWO TO A FILM AND LECTURE SERIES; ONE TO THE ALCOHOL REHABILITATION CENTER (ARC); AND ONE TO ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUNS (AA). THERE WERE THREE CONTROL GROUPS CONSISTING OF CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVERS THAT DID NOT RECEIVE ANY TREATMENT AND A FINAL GROUP THE MEMBERS OF WHICH HAD NEVER BEEN CONVICTED OF DRUNK DRIVING. THE COMPLETE DRIVING HISTORY OF EACH DRIVER WAS ANALYZED BOTH PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE TREATMENT PERIOD. THE RESULTS, REPORTED IN TERMS OF A DRIVER QUALITY INDEX AND AN ACCIDENT INDEX, INDICATED THE FOLLOWING: (1) THE DRUNK DRIVERS WHO HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO A TREATMENT GROUP IMPROVED THEIR DRIVING BEHAVIOR (I.E., HAD FEWER POST PERIOD ALCOHOL RELATED OFFENSES AND BETTER DRIVING RECORDS COMPARED TO APPROPRIATE CONTROL GROUPS WHO RECEIVED NO SUCH TREATMENT), (2) THE GROUP THAT SEEMED TO BENEFIT THE MOST (I.E., IMPROVED THEIR DRIVING BEHAVIOR THE GREATEST) WAS THE GROUP ASSIGNED TO AA. THE DIFFERENCES, HOWEVER, WHILE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, ARE QUITE SMALL. THE CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVERS HAD DRAMATICALLY WORSE DRIVING RECORDS WHEN COMPARED AGAINST A GROUP THAT HAD NO RECORD OF DRUNK DRIVING. THE ACCIDENT INDEX SHOWED THAT THE CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVERS WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE AT FAULT AND HAVE MORE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF INJURIES AND FATALITIES THAN THE NONDRUNK DRIVING GROUP. PART III COMPARES THE DRIVING RECORDS OF TWO GROUPS OF DRIVERS WHO HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN FATAL ACCIDENTS: A GROUP WHO HAD BEEN DRINKING PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT AS INDICATED BY EVIDENCE OF BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT (BAC) AND A GROUP WHO HAD NOT BEEN DRINKING PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT (NO BAC). THE RESULTS SHOW THAT THE DRIVING RECORDS OF THE TWO GROUP ARE DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER WITH THE BAC GROUP HAVING SIGNIFICANTLY POORER RECORD OF DRIVING THAN THE NON-BAC GROUP. THESE DIFFERENCES SHOW UP IN ALL AGE GROUPS FROM YOUNG TO OLD. IN TERMS OF ACCIDENTS, THE BAC GROUP WAS MORE APT TO BE AT FAULT THAN THE NON-BAC, BUT UNLIKE THE RESULTS FOUND IN PART I THE TWO GROUPS WERE ABOUT THE SAME WITH RESPECT TO THE SEVERITY OF THE ACCIDENT AS MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF INJURIES AND FATALITIES. THE TWO GROUPS ALSO DIFFERED IN THE TYPE OF FATAL ACCIDENT WITH THE BAC GROUP HAVING A HIGHER PERCETNAGE OF 'OFF-THE-ROAD' TYPE ACCIDENT AND THE NON-BAC GROUP HAVING A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF 'MULTIVEHICLE' ACCIDENTS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)