Carol Lederhaus Popkin

DRINKING AND DRIVING BY YOUNG FEMALES

Recent research indicates that women are drinking and driving more often and that the proportion of female drivers involved in fatal crashes is increasing. U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System data (Fell 1987) suggest that although overall alcohol involvement rates in fatal crashes have been declining for the past four years, the rates for females aged 21-24 have not, and their alcohol involvement rate in late-night single vehicle (SV) crashes, a surrogate measure of alcohol-related (A/R) crashes, is almost as high as that of male drivers. This paper examines the involvement of North Carolina (NC) female drivers who are less than 35 years of age for the period of 1976 through 1985 and reports on trends in driver licensing, arrests for drinking and driving, SV nighttime and A/R crashes, and measured blood alcohol levels in fatalities. It identifies an emerging driving-while-impaired (DWI) problem for younger women, particularly those 21 to 24 years of age. Significant trends pertaining to the involvement of women will have implications for the design and implementation of educational, deterrence, enforcement, and rehabilitation programs.

Female drinking and driving: Recent trends in North Carolina

Data on driver licensing, DWI arrests, crashes, and fatalities in the State of North Carolina from the mid-70s to the mid-80s are analyzed to examine trends in drinking and driving by women. Findings presented are based on rates per licensed driver. Results suggest that more women are driving and are experiencing greater exposure to the hazards of drinking and driving. DWI arrest rates for women increased by 43% while rates for men decreased by 9%. Likewise, the proportion of legally intoxicated drivers among women is increasing. Women account for a growing proportion of alcohol-related (A/R) crashes and their involvement in single vehicle nighttime crashes is increasing. A dramatic decrease was observed in A/R fatalities in the male licensed driving population. This decrease was not paralleled by women. Authors conclude women will make up an increasing proportion of those arrested and convicted for DWI and will have more A/R crashes. Findings have implications for the design and implementation of education, deterrence, enforcement, and rehabilitation programs.

A comparison of alcohol-related driving behavior of white and nonwhite North Carolina drivers

This paper broadens the knowledge of drinking/driving behavior by examining the involvement of North Carolina (NC) nonwhite drivers in alcohol-related (A/R) crashes and fatal crashes involving alcohol for the period of 1980 through 1988. The study identifies an A/R crash involvement problem for nonwhites, particularly nonwhite males above the age of 25 and nonwhite females above the age of 54. For ages 25 and higher, the A/R crash rates per licensed nonwhite male are at least twice those of white (Euro-caucasian) males. In addition, the driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrest rates per driver are approximately twice as high for nonwhite males as for white males of the same age. Through analysis of other data related to arrests for drinking and driving, single-vehicle nighttime (SVNT) crashes, breath alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of those arrested for DWI, and those involved in A/R crashes, and blood alcohol concentration of those involved in fatal crashes, a series of alternative explanations for this nonwhite involvement are examined. It is concluded that while nonwhite males and females may be involved in more crashes than whites at the same BAC level (as hypothesized by other researchers), there is also evidence that nonwhites appear to drive more often after drinking and also drive at slightly higher levels of BAC.

Epilepsy and driving in North Carolina: An exploratory study

Epileptic drivers offer a risk to the general driving population, both because of affected brain function and because of possible effects of medication. A 1982 pilot study examined the driving records of 112 persons using North Carolina Division of Health Services clinics for the treatment of epilepsy who also held a North Carolina drivers license. Of those undergoing treatment in the clinics, 26% were known by the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to be epileptics. This group had a reported crash rate 1.4 times that of the general driving population, whereas the rate for epileptics not known to the DMV was 1.1 times the general rate. Epileptics with grand mal and temporal or psychomotor seizures accounted for all recorded crashes. Implications for highway safety administrators and for future research are discussed.