This article describes a survey carried out to investigate simultaneously behaviour relating to alcohol use and speeding. The study was carried out in 1991 in the Pas de Calais, Northern France, on rural first and second class roads. A total of 714 drivers or motorcyclists were stopped. The drivers were stopped at locations where speed could be measured over the preceding several hundred metres using a speedometer placed in an unmarked car. Drivers' alcohol levels were measured using an Alcomat breathalyser. Other offences were taken into account and included failure to carry papers and the state of the vehicle. Each driver also filled out a short questionnaire covering his or her basic socio-economic status, journey, any consumption of alcohol or medicines, and accident record. The findings indicate that speeding and drink driving offences are not committed by the same people. However non-respect for the requirement to abstain from drinking and driving, while still remaining within the legal limit, is associated with a tendency to exceed the speed limit
Abstract