The components and results of a one-year pilot program in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada are described. The program incorporated the enforcement and education strategies of traditional drinking-driving countermeasures, but focussed the intervention on sober driving stopped at police road-side spot checks through a social marketing strategy. Drivers who were randomly stopped during the one year period and had not been drinking were rewarded with an incentive item (a plastic licence folder) by a police officer at the spot check, to reinforce their compliance with the law. A concurrent media campaign with the theme of `Thanks for being a sober driver' was also implemented in an attempt to further reinforce the non-risk behaviour of sober driving. A telephone survey was conducted of a random sample of people living in the municipality to determine community receptivity to this new countermeasure. Respondents overwhelmingly indicated support for the program, felt is was a good idea to thank and acknowkledge sober drivers and endorsed the development of a similar program approach in other communuties. Key informants from the police department involved with this program further supported this position. (Secondary source)
Abstract