Although the enforcement of Minimum Legal Drinking Age legislation has demonstrated effectiveness in preventing sales of alcohol to minors, it is less efficacious in environments (such a private parties) where young adults purchase alcohol legally and allow minors access to it. Alcohol-related crash injury is one of the greatest risks facing underage drinkers, yet there is little research on enforcement models developed specifically to deter underage drinking and driving. However, environmental intervention strategies combining active police enforcement of existing DUI laws (such as the .08 legal limit) with widespread publicity regarding the enforcement have been found to reduce drunk driving. Nationwide zero-tolerance legislation makes it illegal for persons younger than age 21 to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in their systems. These successful enforcement-and-publicity strategies used to combat drunk driving may be applied to zero-tolerance legislation to deter underage persons from driving with any amount of alcohol in their systems. This application proposes implementing an enforcement-and-publicity zero-tolerance program in two communities in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Both communities are college towns and have a large number of underage drinkers. The zero-tolerance program will be evaluated using a telephone survey of community residents and a web-survey of university students. In addition, roadside surveys will be used to collect physiological measures of blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) from a random sample of young persons recruited in each community on weekend nights. Roadside surveys will allow direct measurement of reductions in underage drinking and driving. Finally, the longevity and sustainability of the program will be examined by measuring the effect of the intervention for 2 years after it ends and by conducting a cost-benefit analysis (should the program prove successful). Public Health Relevance: More than 5,000 underage persons die in alcohol-related crashes each year. There is a gap in the empirical literature regarding enforcement strategies to deter and reduce underage drinking and driving. This research adapts and extends tried-and-tested drunk driving prevention strategies to the population of underage drinking drivers.

Public Health Relevance

More than 5,000 underage persons die in alcohol-related crashes each year. There is a gap in the empirical literature regarding enforcement strategies to deter and reduce underage drinking and driving. This research adapts and extends tried-and-tested drunk driving prevention strategies to the population of underage drinking drivers.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AA017186-03
Application #
8100123
Study Section
Risk, Prevention and Intervention for Addictions Study Section (RPIA)
Program Officer
Hilton, Michael E
Project Start
2009-07-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2011-07-01
Budget End
2012-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$668,800
Indirect Cost
Name
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
Department
Type
DUNS #
021883350
City
Beltsville
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20705
Johnson, Mark B (2016) A successful high-visibility enforcement intervention targeting underage drinking drivers. Addiction 111:1196-202
Scaglione, Nichole M; Hultgren, Brittney A; Reavy, Racheal et al. (2015) Do students use contextual protective behaviors to reduce alcohol-related sexual risk? Examination of a dual-process decision-making model. Psychol Addict Behav 29:733-43
Hultgren, Brittney A; Scaglione, Nichole M; Cleveland, Michael J et al. (2015) Examination of a dual-process model predicting riding with drinking drivers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:1075-82