A sample of 261 male drivers under the age of 25 provided responses to a questionnaire survey on drinking and driving behaviour and beliefs about drink- driving enforcement. The respondents were grouped in respect to their reported drinking and driving behaviour. Responses on certain questionnaire items were compared between subjects who did and did not report driving after excessive drinking. Those who drank excessively before driving felt that they could consume significantly larger amounts of alcohol without it affecting their driving. Similarly, these drivers perceived the amount that could legally be consumed before driving to be higher than the group who did not drive after excessive drinking. It was concluded that those who drank excessively before driving felt that their driving would not be affected at the level they perceived to represent the legal limit. The results also indicated that drivers who drank excessively before driving perceived the probability of being stopped by the police on a drink- driving occasion to be smaller. It is suggested that a large proportion of young male drivers do drink excessively before driving. It is recommended that future propaganda campaigns emphasise the relationship between driving impairment and the legal limit. It is also suggested that increased emphasis should be placed on enforcement procedures in order to increase the perceived probability of apprehension among would- be offenders.
Abstract