Deterring drunk driving fatalities: an economics of crime perspective (original) (raw)
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Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2007
We examined effects of state statutory changes in DUI fine or jail penalties for firsttime offenders from 1976 to 2002. Methods: A quasi-experimental time-series design was used (n = 324 monthly observations). Four outcome measures of drivers involved in alcoholrelated fatal crashes are: single-vehicle nighttime, low BAC (0.01-0.07 g/dl), medium BAC (0.08-0.14 g/dl), high BAC (≥0.15 g/dl). All analyses of BAC outcomes included multiple imputation procedures for cases with missing data. Comparison series of non-alcohol-related crashes were included to efficiently control for effects of other factors. Statistical models include state-specific Box-Jenkins ARIMA models, and pooled general linear mixed models. Results: Twenty-six states implemented mandatory minimum fine policies and 18 states implemented mandatory minimum jail penalties. Estimated effects varied widely from state to state. Using variance weighted meta-analysis methods to aggregate results across states, mandatory fine policies are associated with an average reduction in fatal crash involvement by drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 g/dl of 8% (averaging 13 per state per year). Mandatory minimum jail policies are associated with a decline in single-vehicle nighttime fatal crash involvement of 6% (averaging 5 per state per year), and a decline in low-BAC cases of 9% (averaging 3 per state per year). No significant effects were observed for the other outcome measures. Conclusions: The overall pattern of results suggests a possible effect of mandatory fine policies in some states, but little effect of mandatory jail policies.
Alcohol-Impaired Driving and Perceived Risks of Legal Consequences
Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2017
Driving while impaired (DWI) is a threat to public health. Codified legal sanctions are a widely implemented strategy to reduce DWI. However, it is unclear that sanctioning affects individual risk perceptions so as to deter alcohol-impaired driving. Using survey data collected from individual drivers, police, and defense attorneys specializing in DWI in 8 U.S. cities, we investigated whether risk perceptions about legal consequences for alcohol-impaired driving, both the risk of being stopped if driving while alcohol-impaired and receiving specific penalties following a DWI, deter alcohol-impaired driving. First, we analyzed how different drivers' risk perceptions about being pulled over and facing criminal sanctions related to their self-reported alcohol-impaired driving in the year following the interview at which risk perceptions were elicited. Second, using data from an experimental module in which individual's risk perceptions were randomly updated by the interview, we ...
American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2019
Purpose: This project examines the relationship between police enforcement of driving under the influence (DUI) and fatal alcohol related crashes. Method: This article merged data from several sources to fit several 3-level growth curve models that assess the relationship between DUI arrests and fatal alcohol related crashes in U.S. counties from 1985-2015. Results: The findings indicate that increases in DUI arrests are related to decreased fatal alcohol related crashes during the period. However, the two are not linearly related and the relationship varies across states. Conclusions: The non-linearity indicates there is a point of diminished returns where increased arrests are no longer related to reductions in fatalities. These findings suggest that policy makers should explore alternative methods of reducing crashes to supplement enforcement efforts such as addressing problems of alcoholism and traffic safety.
Deterring the Drunk Driver: An Examination of Conditional Deterrence and Self-Reported Drunk Driving
Crime & Delinquency, 2021
This project uses a representative U.S. population sample and Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) to explore the deterrence of driving under the influence (DUI) and it’s moderation by the differential deterrability of problem and non-problem drinkers. As hypothesized, the results indicate that personal and vicarious experiences with punishment and punishment avoidance were significant predictors of punishment certainty and self-reported DUI. Significant heterogeneity in both the formulation of perceived certainty of punishment and the relationship between this perception and DUI also exists between problem and non-problem drinkers. Most notably, certainty of punishment was a more robust negative predictor of DUI offending for problem drinkers, and prior punishment appears to have little effect on perceptions of punishment certainty for problem drinkers.
Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
INCREASED NATIONAL CONCERN ABOUT DRUNK DRIVING IN THE 1980s DURING the first half of the 1980s, the United States experienced an unprecedented emergence of concern about problems posed by drunken drivers. From 1980 to 1985 more than 400 chapters of local citizen groups concerned with the drunken driving problem were formed, organizations such as Remove Intoxicated Drivers and Mothers Against Driving Drunk.l According to surveys of national media indices there was a 50-fold increase from 1980 to 1983 in newspaper and magazine stories about drunken driving.' A national commission on the problem was formed by President Reagan, and more than 500 legislative changes were enacted across the nation to deter drunken driving, reaching a high point of 223 changes during 1985.2 Among the most common of the laws enacted were those raising the legal drinking age to 21. All states now have adopted that standard. Thirty states also adopted legislation making it illegal per se to drive with blood alcohol levels above 0.10, about 4-5 drinks in one hour on an empty stomach for a 155 pound person. More than 40 states now have per se legislation. Nearly half of the states implemented administrative per se provisions where licenses can be suspended before trial. In response to complaints by citizen groups, many of whose members had family members killed or injured in drunk driving crashes, many states also raised their penalties for drunken driving. Increased *Presented in a panel, Behavioral Interventions, as part of a Symposium on Motor Vehicle Injuries, held by the Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine on
Alcohol Control Policies and Motor Vehicle Fatalities
Journal of Legal Studies, 1993
The purpose of this study is to estimate the effects of drunk driving deterrents and other alcohol related policies on drunk driving. The data set employed is an annual time-series of state cross-sections for the 48 contiguous states of the U.S. from 1982 through 1988. Total and alterative alcohol involved motor vehicle fatality rates, for the general population and for
Driving under the influence of alcohol: frequency, reasons, perceived risk and punishment
Driving under the influence of alcohol: Frequency, reasons, perceived risk and punishment, 2015
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.
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2007
Background: We evaluated the effects of driving under the influence (DUI) mandatory preconviction and postconviction drivers' license suspension laws in each of 46 U.S. states using 1 to 2 decades of long-term follow-up data on fatal car crashes. State-specific results were combined using meta-analytic techniques, and provide a direct test of the concept of celerity-time between offending behavior and consequent punishment-from deterrence theory.