DEALING WITH THE HARD CORE DRINKING DRIVER

Abstract

This report re-examines the problem of the drinking driver -- those individuals who repeatedly drive after drinking, especially with high blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and who seem relatively resistant to changing this behaviour. It shows that there has been virtually no change in the magnitude of the problem since the release of the authors' previous report in 1991 (see TRIS 00624815 and the 1992 update, TRIS 00626827). Although drinking drivers are a relatively small group in the total driving population, they continue to account for a very substantial proportion of drinking-driving problems, including fatal and injury-producing crashes. To illustrate, drinking drivers account for only 1% of all drivers on the road at night during the weekend, but they represent nearly half of all the fatal crashes at that time. They also account for almost one-third (27%) of all fatally injured drivers and about two-thirds (65%) of all fatally injured drivers who are drinking. The report focuses on a variety of measures that offer promise for dealing efficiently and effectively with drinking drivers. It recommends: The use of an efficient method for identifying and processing drinking drivers when they enter the legal/administrative system; Assessment of DWI (driving while intoxicated) offenders to identify the problems they present, particularly those related to alcohol dependence; Treatment and rehabilitation programs as an essential and viable part of any strategy designed to deal with the problem of the drinking driver; and Programs to prevent or limit the opportunity of the hard core to drink and drive prior to, during, and even following treatment.