Are Buzzed Drivers Really the Problem: A Quasi-Experimental Multilevel Assessment of the Involvement of Drivers With Low Blood Alcohol Levels in Fatal Crashes

Abstract

Controversy over drivers with low blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) have become a highly salient issue since the proposal to reduce the per se BAC limit to .05 for driving under the influence (DUI) convictions. However, little traffic safety, and no criminological research, has examined this phenomenon. This study fills a deficiency in the literature by utilizing quasi-experimental propensity score matching techniques in combination with multilevel modeling to examine the extent of involvement of low BAC drivers in fatal crashes. The results indicate that low BAC drivers are only involved in a very small portion of crashes and are not at fault in many. In addition, although drivers with low BAC have an increased odds of responsibility for a crash than drivers with no BAC, this increase is much lower than other factors such as age, speed, distractions, drug use, and high BAC. This study discusses the implications of focusing resources on drivers that are not considerable contributors to crashes, such as a predicted increase in arrests.

It Is More Than Just Alcohol: A Criminological Perspective on Routine Drinking Activities, Opportunity, and Alcohol-Related Crashes

“…Although it is often assumed that alcohol-related crashes are caused by an intoxicated driver, known as the assumption of malevolence, this is not always the case (Gusfield, 1985, 1996). In fact, most DUI trips do not lead to alcohol-related crashes (Ross, 1992; Zaloshnja, Miller, & Blincoe, 2013) especially at low BAC levels (Stringer, 2018a). Therefore, the robust effects of the measure of nonalcohol-related crashes are consistent with the multicausal nature of alcohol-related crashes (Gusfield, 1985; Haddon, 1972).…”

“…In addition, because driver, vehicle, and environmental factors might all contribute to automobile crashes, following Morrison and colleagues (2016) and Stringer (2018b, 2019), we controlled for these factors with a global measure of the frequency count of nonalcohol-related crashes. 1 This measure is used as a proxy for a plethora of other contextual factors that can cause automobile crashes aside from the blood alcohol content (BAC) of the driver (see also, Gusfield, 1985, 1996; Haddon, 1972; Stringer, 2018a) and is used to examine how drinking drivers interact with other contextual factors in time and space that make the crash possible.…”

“…If we think of alcohol-related crashes as events that occur in time and space, it is clear that individuals who have been drinking are essential to the occurrence of alcohol-related crashes. However, other environmental factors are also necessary for a crash to occur and these are factors that cause crashes in general such as roadways, traffic, vehicle, and atmospheric conditions among others (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], 2008; see also Gusfield, 1996; Haddon, 1972; Stringer, 2018a). Thus, some drivers and areas will have greater crash risks/frequencies apart from alcohol and its availability.…”

Waiting for the Stop Sign to Turn Green: Contemporary Issues on Drug and Alcohol Impaired Driving Policy

“…In fact, those drivers with a low BAC (< 0.08) make up less than five percent (4.8%) of fatal crashes in the U.S, and those that would be affected by this legislation (BAC 0.05-0.07) make up about half of these (2.4%). Thus, the potential impact of the 0.05 BAC law on fatal crashes in the U.S. is limited (see also Stringer, 2018).…”

“…This assumption is that often when there is an alcohol involved crash it is often assumed to be the cause of the crash (Gusfield, 1985). Although this may be a fair assumption to make for drivers with very high BAC levels, the probability that alcohol was the causal factor in these low BAC crashes is actually pretty low (see Stringer, 2018). For example, if a distracted driver runs the stop sign and hits another vehicle driven by a driver with a 0.05 BAC level, the BAC level would not be the cause of the crash.…”