A survey was conducted to gauge the attitudes of western australian drivers to drink driving and speeding behaviour, and various young driver crash countermeasures. An anonymous mail questionnaire was sent to a sample of the general driving population and to a smaller sample of only probationary (first year) drivers. Some of the major findings of this survey were: drivers indicated strong support for police stopping drivers whose blood alcohol level is over the legal limit. Less than 40 per cent of drivers were aware of new police methods to deal with drink driving (even though the police random road check campaign was in progress at the time of the survey). Many drivers had a poor understanding of the amount of alcohol that can result in various blood alcohol concentrations. Support for apprehending drivers for speeding behaviour was lower than for the question on drink driving behaviour. Over 80 per cent of drivers rated western australian traffic law enforcement as average or better. Most drivers favour the introduction of young driver crash countermeasures such as lower legal blood alcohol limits, higher minimum legal drinking age, introduction of night driving restrictions, and vehicle occupancy restrictions when a young person is driving. Probationary drivers indicated a lower level of support for these countermeasures. (A)
Abstract