Photo Source:http://www.cdc.gov

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among young adults age 15 to 20, and more than a quarter of those killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking.¹ In 2006, 13,470 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.²

The dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol are well-documented, yet many people continue to drink and drive. Recent studies indicate that more than 15 percent of drivers age 18 and older had driven under the influence of alcohol at least once in the previous year.³

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has combined forces with local and state law enforcement agencies, safe driving advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and others to combat drunk driving by conducting well-advertised and well-coordinated “crackdowns” twice a year during traditionally dangerous travel periods.

Do media campaigns work? Do people actually respond to them? Can public service campaigns – also called “social marketing” – convince people to stop drinking and driving?

The main focus of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is to reduce injuries and fatalities on the nation’s roadways. Behavioral research on risky driving behaviors, such as driving under the influence of alcohol, is a key part of NHTSA’s mission. NHTSA also funds or supports intervention activities within behavioral research areas, including funding for semi-annual Alcohol-impaired Driving Crackdowns across the country. The Media Network, Inc. (TMN) recently won a contract from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to evaluate the effectiveness of the NHTSA-sponsored twice-yearly “crackdown” on drunk driving by conducting telephone surveys both before and after each campaign, beginning with the summer 2011 campaign. We will look at attitudes toward drunk driving before the media campaigns begin, awareness of the campaigns, and attitudes toward drunk driving once the campaigns have been completed.

For more information on the dangers of driving while impaired check out the resources listed below:

NHTSA Information

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810801.PDF
http://www.stopimpaireddriving.org/

CDC Information
http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/index.html

Mothers Against Drunk Driving
http://www.madd.org/

¹ http://www.nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html

² DOT HS 810 801, updated March 2008.

³ The National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report.http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k8/stateDUI/stateDUI.pdf

For research-based information and reports on specific impaired driving topics, the following resources are recommended:
Mass Media Campaigns are Effective in Preventing Alcohol-Impaired Driving
http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/massmedia.html

Motor Vehicle-Related Injury Prevention: Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/AID/index.html

Research Update: School-based Programs Reduce Riding with Alcohol-impaired Drivers
http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/ReducingMVCrashesYoungDrv.html

Research Update: Sobriety Checkpoints Are Effective in Reducing Alcohol-Related Crashes
http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/checkpoint.html

2011 Plan for Enforcement
http://www.stopimpaireddriving.org/Labor-Day-2011-Timeline.pdf