IMPACT EVALUATION OF THE BREATH ALCOHOL TESTING MOBILE UNITS (BAT MOBILES) IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

This report evaluates the effectiveness of the use of Breath Alcohol Testing Mobiles (BAT Mobiles) by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in combating the crime of driving while intoxicated (DWI). An interrupted time-series analysis was performed on 10 years of accident data to ascertain whether program operation had a measurable impact on alcohol-related accidents. A proxy measure for alcohol-related accidents was used--Wednesday-Saturday nighttime fatal plus injury accidents. The proxy measure was transformed to a rate using the number of gallons of gasoline sold to control for the possibility that changes in travel would confound the impact analysis. The analysis indicated that there was a statistically significant decline in accident rates after the BAT Mobile program was implemented. Further confirmation that the accident rate decline was truly BAT-Mobile-related was sought using a multiple time-series research design. The Albuquerque accident series was compared to other series not expected to show program impact. The comparison series, (1) Wednesday-Saturday night fatal plus injury accidents for other urban areas in New Mexico and (2) Albuquerque fatal plus injury daytime accidents, did not show similar rate declines. The results are consistent with the hypothesized positive impact of Albuquerque's BAT Mobile program.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Calderwood, R
  • Woods, B
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 21-35
• Serial:
  • Traffic Safety Evaluation Research Review
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol breath tests; Crash rates; Drunk driving; Measures of effectiveness; Statistical analysis; Time series analysis; Traffic law enforcement
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00391819
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-037 222
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 30 1985 12:00AM