There is a limited amount of research on drinking behavior of non-whites and almost none on the subject of drinking and driving. Most of the studies have been based on hospital admissions for alcoholism. The U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System does not consider race of drivers. This study by the Highway Safety Research Center examines the involvement of North Carolina (NC) non-white drivers for the period of 1980 through 1988 and reports on trends in driver licensing, arrests for drinking and driving, single vehicle (SV) nighttime and alcohol-related (A/R) crashes and measured blood alcohol levels in fatalities. It identifies an emerging driving-while-impaired (DWI) problem for non-white, particularly non-white males above the age of twenty. For ages twenty five and higher, rates of non-white males are at least twice those of white males. Similar trends exist in A/R crash involvement rates. Significant trends pertaining to the involvement of non-whites will have implications for the design and implementation of educational, deterrence, enforcement and rehabilitation programmes. (A)
Samenvatting