How to design and implement a drinking and driving programme pdf ...

3.2.5 Deciding on activities
Drinking and Driving: a road safety manual
After specifying the objectives, targets and indicators, the working group must decide
on and plan activities. The scope and range of activities used will depend largely on
local circumstances and budgets.
As with any programme to reduce road traffic injuries, the approach must involve a
wide range of disciplines. Those to be involved in each activity must be identified.
Activities will fall into the broad categories of legislation, enforcement, punishments
and sanctions, public information and education campaigns. In the implementation
process, measures to inform and educate the public about any changes in legislation
or the dangers of drinking and driving should always come before the beginning of
more intensified enforcement. Enforcement should be undertaken only where the
infrastructure is in place (e.g. where there is legislation and the capacity for enforcement)
and where the public has already been informed. Table 3.2 is an example of
typical activities that may be carried out in the various stages of a drinking and driving
programme.
The most productive strategies use education to gain community acceptance and
raise awareness and enforcement to achieve a cultural shift in drivers’ behaviour – to
change the community and drivers’ focus to a “road safety” mentality. This emphasises
the benefits of education coupled with enforcement – neither will work in isolation
from the other.
3 | How to design and implement a drinking and driving programme
3.2.6 Piloting the programme in a community or region
Implementing a smaller scale “pilot” project in carefully selected community or
region can provide an extremely valuable opportunity to test the approach, type and
impact of activities prescribed in the larger programme. The lessons learned though
the pilot project can be used to improve the programme before it is implemented
on a broader scale. Criteria for selecting the community or region for piloting the
programme might include: sufficient good quality data showing crashes involving
drinking and driving are a problem (e.g. from police and/or hospitals); clear community
support for an intervention to prevent drinking and driving; clear support
from a key stakeholder (such as the head of the traffic police, a high level government
official or representative from the health sector) and their willingness to take a leading
role in developing and implementing a campaign to reduce drinking and driving
in their community or region.
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