RoSPA Drinking and Driving Policy Paper 2007

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The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Drinking and Driving Policy Paper Updated May 2007 The recidivism rate over nine years of 504 male drivers who took a Driver Improvement course in Melbourne was 27.5% compared with a rate of 21.6% for an age matched control group of 671 drivers who were eligible but did not attend. The usefulness of the course was advocated, particularly for males under 25 years prior to their re-licensing application. However, a 1988 study 17 in Melbourne concluded that no differences were found in reconviction rates between treated and non-treated groups and felt that such programmes had little effect on traffic safety measures. In the same year the Social Development Committee of Parliament in Victoria concluded in their inquiry into the management of drink drivers that drink driving education programmes have an important role to play in reinforcing the deterrent effect of the penalty system and complementing broader health promotional activities aimed at reducing the incidence of alcohol related problems in the community. 18 United States Studies undertaken in the USA generally support the effectiveness of drink driver rehabilitation programmes, although one study suggested that licence suspension is generally more effective than rehabilitation courses in reducing the accident risk of drink drive offenders. The results of that study did suggest that using both sanctions simultaneously would be superior to either measure used alone. 19 Education and Publicity The Government, supported by Local Authorities, Police Forces and organisations such as RoSPA, have conducted education and publicity campaigns about drink driving for many years. The level of public awareness about the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving have an affect on the level of drinking and driving. When breath tests were introduced in 1967 the proportion of road fatalities involving alcohol fell from 25% to 15%. However, the level of advertising that preceded breath testing was not sustained, and by 1975 the proportion of fatalities involving an over the limit driver rose to 35%. The Government decided in 1976 to conduct a high profile drink drive publicity campaign to educate the public, and the campaign has run each year since then. Since 1979, fatal crashes involving a driver over the legal limit have fallen from 1,380 to 400 in 1999. Unfortunately, they have since risen to (a provisional figure of) 560 in 2003. Annual surveys show significant changes in drinking and driving behaviour since the drink drive publicity campaigns began. The research was carried out amongst men who drive and also drink outside the home. In 1979, 51% had driven after drinking on at least one occasion in the previous week; by 1997 this had dropped to 23%. Over the same period the proportion drinking 6+ units and then driving on at least one occasion in the previous week fell from 15% to 3%. (A unit is defined as 1/2 pint of ordinary strength beer, 25 ml of spirits or 100 ml wine). 15
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Drinking and Driving Policy Paper Updated May 2007 The proportion claiming to "leave the car at home" when going drinking has increased from 54% to 79%, and the proportion claiming to avoid the risk by "arranging for someone else to drive" has increased from 48% to 67%. There has also been a marked reduction in the belief that it is difficult to avoid drinking and driving (from 61% down to 19% in 1997) and that knowing you will have to drive spoils the evening (from 64% to 46%). The percentage of male drivers at risk who disagreed strongly that "Having one or two drinks does not really make me more likely to have an accident", increased by 7 percentage points among drivers in December 1998 and remained level in January 1999. In November 1998, 29% of male drivers strongly agreed that even one drink made them a worse driver and at the start of the campaign in December this had increased by seven percentage points to 36%. However, there is still much to do to increase public knowledge and awareness. A survey in January 2001 found that only 13% of drivers could correctly state the legal alcohol limit, a quarter of motorists thought it was half the correct figure and 48% simply did not know. The survey also found that 56% of drivers admitted to driving ‘after a drink or two’ but remaining below the limit, 3% of drivers agreed that they did so frequently. Publicity and advertising should continue to encourage a climate that drinking and driving is socially unacceptable and be aimed at encouraging friends and relatives to influence the behaviour of potential or existing offenders. Although the incidence of drinking and driving has dropped dramatically over the years the issue needs to be kept in the public arena so that people don't become complacent. Young, male drivers particularly need a constant reminder about the dangers of drinking and driving, as they are over-represented in drink drive accidents. There can be little doubt that the national publicity campaigns run by the Government over the last two decades are one of the reasons that public attitudes to drink driving have improved. It is essential that they are continued and are evaluated to enable future campaigns to be appropriately designed and targeted. The ultimate message behind any publicity should be ‘do not drink and drive – there is no safe limit’. The advertising strategy should include the tragic consequences of drink drive crashes, have a high emotional impact and confront the potential drink driver. More information to learner drivers on the consequences of drink driving would be helpful along with increased editorial for road deaths in general. More messages could be incorporated on TV via soaps, and pubs could be encouraged to display lively materials. Free time should be given to campaigns by the BBC. It is important to provide more education on alcohol and drinking and driving for young people and learner drivers in particular. Initial input should be to school children and expanded during driver training. Materials should be used within the national curriculum or as leaflets to parents. Efforts should be made to encourage first time, low level offenders to attend alcohol education programmes to help solve any drinking problems they may have. More contact should be made with health professionals, for example, by linking the HRO scheme to hospitals and offering rehabilitation where necessary. 16
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