Twenty-five years of DUI-school as a countermeasure program and drinking-driving research.

Drinking-driving is considered by many as a serious crime in terms of its prevalence and its consequences. Through the years a number of punitive and educational efforts have been undertaken to address the problem. To combat the drinking-driving problem in Tennessee, the state has not only changed the DUI (Driving Under the Influence) law, but also has hardened the penalties for the offenders to a minimum mandatory sentence of 48 hours to a maximum of 365 days in jail, in addition to fines, court costs, and revocation of driving license. In addition to these punishments, the state has adopted to use a mandatory education program for the first time offenders as a countermeasure against drinking-driving. This paper summarises the drinking-driving research and the education program that has been conducted by the Tennessee Technological University over the past twenty-five years and discusses how this research has found practical application in the development and improvement of the DUI Countermeasure Program. The present model which involves researchers in the program development process appears to have interesting policy ramifications.