Despite the clear linkage between alcohol impairment and crashes, most drinking and driving episodes do not result in a crash. This fact suggests that there may be differences between DWI offenders who have crashes and those who do not. This study examined differences in behavioural and psychological factors between DWI offenders who never had an alcohol involved crash and DWI offenders who had at least two alcohol-related crashes. The sample consisted of 646 convicted DWI offenders: about 11 percent had two or more crashes. In univariate analyses, the crash involved offenders were significantly different from the no crash group on a large number of measures that suggested lower socioeconomic status, more driving violations, more severe alcohol dependence, more frequent drinking and driving, substantial psychiatric problems, lower self esteem, and greater driving aggression. Multivariate discriminant function analysis found that psychiatric symptoms, driving violations, and arrests for crimes other than DWI were significantly related to crashes even when the frequency of drinking and driving was controlled in the analysis. The results indicate that more intensive interventions specific to improving driving skills are needed. Also, psychiatric problems may require attention if crashes are to be minimised. (A)
Samenvatting