Educational programmes for the avoidance or reduction of drunk driving vary by contents, target groups, degree of intensity and theory. Most were developed to increase the student's knowledge of the influence which alcoholic beverages have on physical functions (e.g. perception, reaction, motion), emphasising the influence of alcohol on driving skill. Obviously these educational efforts are to be made at the time when young people apply for a driver's licence. The programme's intentions are to have the students understand the benefits of abstinence; social drinking and driving; reasonable consumption of alcoholic drinks; and numerous aspects of drinking and driving, e.g. the personal consequences of a drunk driving offence. As far as many young drivers are concerned, the real educational work can unfortunately only be done when the combination of car and alcohol has already become a matter for the courts. The aim of efforts to rehabilitate drivers is then often to break up patterns of behaviour which have become ingrained. In some cases of drunken driving neither ignorance, inexperience nor long-accustomed habits are the cause. On the contrary, these offences were the result of acute drinking problems. In such cases therapeutic intervention is called for, and not measures aimed at education and rehabilitation. (A)
Abstract