This paper discusses the decline of drink driving in The Netherlands during 1983-1991, with special reference to a new method for studying the alcohol consumption of Dutch motorists during weekend nights. There was a sharp drop in drinking and driving, and the number of motorists, shown to have an excess blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.05% during weekend nights, decreased from 12% to 4%. This can be attributed to improved police enforcement, combined with: (1) improved handling of offenders; (2) better information campaigns against drink driving and alcohol consumption in general; and (3) private initiatives offering alternative transport and non-alcoholic drinks. General levels of alcohol consumption are slightly less, and people are more careful not to combine drinking and driving. The police now prefer small-scale random breath testing, allowing them to play a more important part in implementing studies of motorists' alcohol consumption. The new study method enabled a much larger random sample after 1991, at approximately the same cost as before. It allows the measurement of changes of drink driving at the provincial level as well as nationally. However, the proportion of victims of registered alcohol accidents has not fallen as fast as drivers' alcohol consumption during weekend nights.
Abstract