The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2006 Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. Labor Day holiday campaign had three main components: (1) DWI enforcement, (2) public awareness efforts, and (3) evaluation. The 2006 program used approximately $10 million in Congressionally funded television and radio advertisements. The message was that police would arrest drivers if they were caught driving drunk. Thirty States reported spending $8 million locally on similar messages. Eighteen nights of enforcement focused on apprehending intoxicated drivers. Forty-eight States reported over 40,000 DWI arrests. National random sample telephone surveys conducted prior to and just after the campaign found that the media effort increased awareness of the enforcement crackdown and a small increase in the perceived likelihood of being stopped for drinking and driving, but indicated no self-reported changes in drinking driving behavior. The number of alcohol-related fatalities were essentially unchanged from the year before; drivers with positive blood alcohol concentrations (.08+ grams per deciliter) who were male, age 18 to 34, decreased in number from 2005 to 2006 (4,996 versus 4,872). Case studies document recent efforts in 8 States, demonstrating that States can achieve significant reduction in alcohol-related crashes when they engage in sustained high-visibility enforcement (Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee, and West Virginia). Several of these States accomplished sizable decreases in alcohol-related deaths due to their programs. For example, Colorado had a 28% reduction in drivers over the .08 BAC limit during the five-year period from 2001 and West Virginia had an 18% decrease in alcohol-related fatalities 2002 through 2005. (Author/publisher)
Abstract