The Development of a Nonns-Based Countermeasure for Impaired Driving

Transcription

1 The Development of a Nonns-Based Countermeasure for Impaired Driving Kathryn Stew art and Corina S ole Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Bethesda, Maryland, USA INTRODUCTIO N Increased attention to the impaired driving problem combined with deterrence strategies have led to great progress during the last decade in reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities. The current project attempts to buiki upon the significant role that changing social norms has played in the reductions in impaired driving by developing and testing a norms-based countermeasure. The U.S. Natfonal Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a nationwide survey using a probability sample of licensed drivers who drink. Several subgroups that appeared to be at high risk of drinking and driving emerged from the analysis of the survey data For the current project, we selected 25 to 54 year old college educated, divorced, non-smoking males as our target group. Members of this group were at least twioe as likely as the respondents as a whole to report having been stopped for DWI at some point in their lives. The education level of this group is at odds with the usual definitions of high risk groups (e.g., who tend to have lower educational attainment), and non-smoking status would usually be associated with lower risk of impaired driving. People in this group, however, may be more susoeptible to normative appeals against drinking and driving. Information from other related NHTSA projects was reviewed in order to identify themes that might be useful for the development of countermeasures for the present group. Focus groups were conducted with members of the target group to test preliminary program ideas and to help with the formulation of program descriptions. Based on this information, a countermeasure was developed and is in the process of being implemented. As part o f the countermeasure development process, particular emphasis has been placed on the use of change agents. Change agents (that is, people or organizations who exert influence over potential drinking drivers) play an important role in the establishment of social norms against drinking and driving. Many types of behavior (impaired driving included), require social feedback to shape them; this project identified appropriate change agents for the selected target group and based program interventions on those agents

2 This p apa will discuss key areas pertaining to program selection: characteristics of the defined target group, previous research regarding potential norms-based countermeasures, and the applicability and appropriateness of the proposed program types for the target population. The proposed program will then be described along with the planned evaluation. CHARACTERISTICS OF TH E TARGET GROUP Drinking behavior and attitudes The interviews and focus groups carried out for a previous NHTSA project (Stewart et al. 1995) provided insights into the social life, drinking behavior, drinking and driving attitudes and overall values and motivations of drivers between the ages of 21 and 29. Key findings from that study were that heavy drinking occurred primarily in bars (and to some extent in the homes of friends) and in large groups of same-sex (and sometimes mixed-sex) friends. Drinking was a central feature of the social life of this age group and social life was the central feature of life in general for the respondents. Thus, drinking with friends was a very important activity. For the younger members of the current target population, recent focus groups reflected this same patern. With older members, however, changes seemed quite marked and consistent. In the late twenties and beyond, a definite evolution in values and social habits especially regarding drinking occurred. This change may have been due in part to simple maturation, but may also have been due to changes in life roles, especially marriage, having children, and taking on more important job responsibilities. The effects of changing social roles on drinking and other drug use has been reported in the literature (Burton et al. 1996; Labouvie 1996). Respondents reported deliberately reducing the amount they drink, the circumstanoes under which they drink, and the probability of drinking and driving as a result of feelings of responsibility for children and concerns about the potential effects drinking and driving would have on their job. With regard to jobs, respondents reported that an impaired driving arrest or even an embarrassing incident related to intoxication could have serious repercussions for their jobs. This finding is consistent with the existing literature (e. g., Robbins 1991). Other aspects of maturation seem to have affected respondents drinking. Many reported reduced drinking because of health reasons. They said that they could no longer handle heavy drinking, loss of sleep, and hangovers the way they could in younger yeais. In addition, respondents reported being affected by accumulated life experience with the negative consequences of heavy drinking either their own or others. These experiences seemed to have more effect on this group as compared to the younger respondents in the previous project. In that project, many respondents reported either being involved in alcohol-related crashes or being close to someone who was, but

3 these experiences seemed to have little effect on attitudes or behavior. The older respondents in the current study seemed much more inclined to recognize the significance of these events and to change their behavior based on them Tases and preferences appear to have changed as well Previously, respondents reported that they drank whatever alcohol was cheapest in order to feel the effects, current respondents were more likdy to drink more expensive alcohol for taste and enjoyment. They also report drinking primarily with meals a behavior largely unknown among the younger respondents. The fact that the respondents were divorcetj did not seem to have had a significant prolonged effect on drinking. Some reported that they drank less since their divorce because their wives had been heavy drinkers or because they knew that they woukl have to drive home (rather than relying on their wives to drive). Others reported that in the period during and immediately following their divorce, they increased their drinking in response to stress or because of their new freedom, but that this phase was short lived. The divorced status did not seem to be a direct factor in the drinking or drinking and driving behavior of our respondents. Drinking and Driving B ehavior and Attitudes With regard to drinking heavily and driving, naturally such behavior occurs less frequently because heavy drinking occurs less frequently. But to the extent that respondents find themselves in circumstanoes where they might drive while impaired, motivations for avoiding drinking and driving also seem to have evolved. Among the younger respondents in the previous project, fear of arrest was the principle motivation for avoiding drinking and driving. For the current respondents, fear of arrest is also present, but it is tied to other issues: fear of arrest because o f the consequences it would have for empbyment or because of how it would appear to their children. Respondents also expressed more concern over potential harm that they might cause others in a crash. Interestingly, while this group does express more concerns about their own health and the possible negative consequences of drinking, the possibility that they themselves might be injured if they drive white impaired does not appear to be a prominent concern, similar to the younger respondents. Respondents used a variety of techniques to avoid drinking and driving. The most common technique was simply limiting the amount drunk. Whereas the younger group in the previous project was more likely to report that they used some subjective method o f determining impairment (e. g., when their speech was slurred or they began to see double), current respondents were more likdy to report a strict limit on the number of drinks usually one or two before driving or timing their drinking so that they consumed no more than one drink per hour

4 Even though this evolution towards a sense of responsibility and more moderate living occurred in most respondents, there were a few who appeared to have continued to drink heavily. It is possible that those respondents who did not mature out of heavy drinking are those who have developed or are developing more serious patterns of alcohol abuse. For these respondents, drinking patterns and attitudes more resemble those of the younger group, with heavy drinking occurring primarily in bars as part of a large social group. Their attitudes towards drinking and driving were also more similar to those of the younger respondents (e. g., a sense of invulnerability). A pplication o f Target Group Characteristics to P ossib le Program s The current program was designed to deal with the remaining occasions on which this otherwise more moderate group continue to drive while impaired or with those members o f the group who have not matured out of heavy drinking and driving. Normative themes that were selected as possibly persuasive to the target group echo or amplify the concerns that already appear to motivate them These include: Responsibility and setting an example for children; Possible embarrassment or shame at an impaired driving incident; Concern about empbyment consequences; and Conoem about harming others. An important question for the development of countermeasures is who would be the appropriate change agent for this group. For the younger group studied previously, friends were the key normative reference group. For this somewhat older population, friends were less important. This population does appear to be very career-focused and concerned with the potential impact that impaired driving might have on their jobs. Thus, em pbyers were selected as the appropriate change agent. PROGRAM DESCRIPTIO N The countermeasure approach to be evaluated in this project is a an empbyer-sponsored, normatively based alternative transportation program set in the conext of a community norms initiative combined with an incentive program. The program is being implemented in Madison, Wisconsin, with sponsorship of the Dane County Sheriffs Department and the Natbnal Commission Against Drunk Driving. The overall campaign is called "Real Behind the Wheel," consisting of three components: An em p loyer-sp onsored, convenien t, econom ical transportation alternative -- CARe FARE. CARe FARE is cab fare at half of the price ( i.e, a booklet of twenty dollars worth of cab fare is sold for ten dollars). The coupon booklets are made available through major em pbyers. This

5 aspect o f the program combines several features that our research has indicated may be important: 1) It is sponsored by the employer, providing the explicit message that the employer condones sensible precautions against impaired driving and the implicit message that the em pbyer would frown on impaired driving; 2) It requires planning ahead, before the drinking occasion the driver has already invested in the coupons and might as well use them (purchasers are encouraged to take a cab both to and from the drinking occasion, as most people are reluctant to leave their cars once they have driven it someplace); 3) The program emphasizes positive rewards for using alternative transportation the practical advantages of not having to find parking as well being entered into a drawing for prizes when using the coupons. Other suggested uses of the coupon books include giving them to adolescent children who may need safe transportation to and from dates or babysitting and other situations that do not imply that the em pbyee him or herself will drink to excess. D evelopm ent o f positive norms about impaired driving through personal "traits." The community-wide campaign defines traits possessed by "real men" and "real women" who wish to appear in a positive light. Traits include driving "real sober," being "man enough" to give up the keys, "smart enough" to designate a driver in advance, "strong enough" to intervene and not let a friend drink and drive, and using alternative transportation instead of driving while impaired. The norms are promoted through posters, media spots, and news coverage. The norms are echoed in the materials promoting the Care Fare coupons. White these particular normative messages are perhaps more appropriate to the younger part o f the target age range, we do not believe that they will have a negative impact on the older group. The u se o f concrete incen tives fo r pro-norm ative behavior -- called "Real R ew ards." Real Rewards provides incentives by entering drivers into drawings for prizes such as sporting goods, concert and game tickets, and free meals for using CARe FARE coupons. The provision of incentives has been shown to be an effective traffic safety strategy (e.g, Gelter 1984)

6 DATA TYPES Several types of data will be collected in order to assess the implementation and impact of the various elements of the Real Behind the Wheel campaign. The target group will be surveyed, change agents will be interviewed, trends of CARe FARE coupon utilization will be examined, traffic records of alcohol-related crashes will be studied, and costs o f the program will be documented. The major data collection effort will be will be surveys of empbyees at the participating businesses. Surveys will take place at basdine and again about six months later. Data collected will include the frequency of drinking and driving; awareness of the program; acceptance o f the norms and behavior standards associated with the program; current use of taxis and other public transportation including CARe FARE; and perceptions of em pbyer and community attitudes and policies concerning impaired driving. REFERENCES Burton, R., Johnson, R., Ritter, C., and Clayton, R. (1996). The effects of role socialization on the initiation of cocaine use; An event history analysis from adolescence into middle adulthood. Journal o f Health andsockd Behavior, 37(1):75. Geller, E. (1984) Motivating safety beltuse with incentives: a critical review of the past and a look to the future. In: Advcnces in Belt Restraint Systems: Design, Performance and Usage (No. 141) Society of Automotive Engineers Labouvie, E. (1996). Maturing out of substance use: Selection and self-correction. Journal o f Drug Issues, 26(2): Robbins, C. (1991). Social roles and alcohol abuse among older men and women. Family and Community Health, 13(4): Stewart, K; Taybr, E.; Tippetts, S.; Sole, C.; and Cohen, A. (1995). Motivating Anti-DWI Behavior Using Existing Values. Washington, D.C. NHTSA