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

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy

Cristina Esteban²  Luis Montoro¹  Juan C Pastor²  Francisco Alonso² 

[1] FACTHUM.lab (Human Factor and Road Safety), INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Serpis 29, Valencia, 46022, Spain;DATS (Development and Advising in Traffic Safety) Research Group, INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Serpis 29, Valencia, 46022, Spain

关键词: Alcohol;    Driving under the influence;    Driving while intoxicated;    Road safety;    Drivers;   

Others  :  1139652
DOI  :  10.1186/s13011-015-0007-4

 received in 2014-11-07, accepted in 2015-03-02,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

The 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.

Methods

A 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”.

Results

Results 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.

Conclusions

Knowing 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.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Alonso et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

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