Driving under the influence of alcohol: frequency, reasons, perceived risk and punishment

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to gain information useful to improve traffic safety, concerning the following aspects for DUI (Driving Under the Influence): frequency, reasons, perceived risk, drivers' knowledge of the related penalties, perceived likelihood of being punished, drivers’ perception of the harshness of punitive measures and drivers’ perception of the probability of behavioral change after punishment for DUI.MethodsA sample of 1100 Spanish drivers, 678 men and 422 women aged from 14 to 65 years old, took part in a telephone survey using a questionnaire to gather sociodemographic and psychosocial information about drivers, as well as information on enforcement, clustered in five related categories: “Knowledge and perception of traffic norms”; “Opinions on sanctions”; “Opinions on policing”; “Opinions on laws” (in general and on traffic); and “Assessment of the effectiveness of various punitive measures”.ResultsResults showed around 60% of respondents believe that driving under the influence of alcohol is maximum risk behavior. Nevertheless, 90.2% of the sample said they never or almost never drove under the influence of alcohol. In this case, the main reasons were to avoid accidents (28.3%) as opposed to avoiding sanctions (10.4%). On the contrary, the remaining 9.7% acknowledged they had driven after consuming alcohol. It is noted that the main reasons for doing so were “not having another way to return home” (24.5%) and alcohol consumption being associated with meals (17.3%).Another important finding is that the risk perception of traffic accident as a result of DUI is influenced by variables such as sex and age. With regard to the type of sanctions, 90% think that DUI is punishable by a fine, 96.4% that it may result in temporary or permanent suspension of driving license, and 70% that it can be punished with imprisonment.ConclusionsKnowing how alcohol consumption impairs safe driving and skills, being aware of the associated risks, knowing the traffic regulations concerning DUI, and penalizing it strongly are not enough. Additional efforts are needed to better manage a problem with such important social and practical consequences.

Alcohol Consumption, Smoking, Job Stress and Road Safety in Professional Drivers

“…Different studies have described in general the negative influence of alcohol [23,57] and tobacco [58,59] on driving and road safety. However, in the case of developing countries (as the case of Colombia), a considerably minor amount of evidence has been accumulated regarding the impact of substance consumption upon subsequent health and safety outcomes among professional drivers [60,61] and its relationship with working conditions and job stress, even considering the typical adverse working conditions and high prevalence of addictive behaviors and Job Strain registered among professional drivers [8,53,62].…”

Diferencias en función del sexo en la percepción del riesgo asociado al consumo de drogas en jóvenes

“…(Alonso, Pastor, Montoro y Esteban, 2015;Jiménez-Muro, Beamonte, Marquete, Gargallo y Nerín, 2009;La Caixa, 2015; Morales-Manrique, Bueno-Cañigral, Aleixandre-Benavente y Valderrama-Zurián, 2010).…”

Drunk driving in the Czech Republic: Motivation, risk-reducing strategies, and opinions about sanctions

“…These are the same as the most common reasons given in the United States (Kulick & Rosenberg, 2000) and Spain (Alonso et al, 2015). Different from the American research was that none of the drivers mentioned that he was the least drunk in the group.…”