AN EVALUATION OF WASHINGTON STATE'S 1979 DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED (DWI) LAWS

In 1987 Washington passed legislation establishing per se definition of DWI as driving or being in physical control of a motor vehicle with a BAC of .10 or higher, a mandatory one day jail sentence for first-time DWI offenders and 7 days for repeat offenders and mandatory attendance at an alcohol Information School for all first offenders. Two investigations were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of these laws as a specific and a general deterrent to driving after drinking. Study 1 explored general effects by a time series analysis of monthly alcohol related accident data. In Study 2 specific deterrence effects were investigated by a pre-/post-legislation comparison of recidivism rates from samples of first, repeat, and non-DWI offenders. Study 1 showed that the law has initiated a general deterrence that resulted in a significant downturn in alcohol related accidents. Study 2 showed no evidence that the new laws were effective in dissuading convicted DWI offencders from repeating their offenses or reducing accident involvement. Deficiencies in the 'system' responsible for implementing the new laws may have limited the deterrence impact (Study 3).

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• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/1396
• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Washington Traffic Safety Commission

  1000 South Cherry Street
  Olympia, WA  United States  98504
• Authors:
  • Klingberg, C L
  • O'Connel, JPO
  • Salzberg, P M
  • CHADWICK, J R
  • Paulsrude, S P
• Publication Date: 1984-12

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol use; Blood alcohol levels; Drunk driving; Impact studies; Laws; Measures of effectiveness; Penalties; Recidivism; Safety; Safety programs; Traffic safety; Traffic safety education
• Uncontrolled Terms: Deterrence; Effectiveness
• Old TRIS Terms: Alcohol education programs
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00492222
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS 806 838, HS-806 838
• Files: HSL, NTL, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 31 1990 12:00AM