This paper reports on a study of the variation in the rate of DWI in small communities as represented by census tracts. The study examined the communities where the DWI offenders reside, not where they were arrested. The concept is that DWI prevention can be targeted at communities with high rates of DWI. The home address of every person who was convicted of a drinking and driving offence from 1990-1994 and resided in Erie County was geocoded (n=15,551). This provided a geographic reference that allowed all of the offenders to be aggregated into the appropriate census tract. The results showed that on-premise alcohol outlets were significantly related to the DWI rate. In addition, higher proportions of males, nonskilled occupations, and whites were related significantly to higher DWI rates. The findings strongly indicate that there is a spatial pattern of DWI offenders in communities. The specific characteristics of these high DWI communities can be used to more effectively target places and populations for DWI prevention programs. (A)
Abstract