Drinking Behaviors in Young Adults: The Potential Role of Designated Driver and Safe Ride Home Programs

This paper reports on a random digit dialing survey conducted to examine the reported drinking and driving habits of people aged 21–34 years. The participants included a total of 917 individuals who had a valid driver’s license, consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the last year and lived in Seattle, Spokane or Portland. Results showed that 62% of participants reported that they drank alcohol at least weekly, and 31% binged at least once per month in the last year. Findings also showed that 21% drove after drinking too much in the last month. Two-thirds of individuals reported being a designated driver at least once in the last year, and in most instances, this had been decided before the group went out for the evening. Over three-quarters of individuals reported that they drank less than they usually do the last time they were a designated driver. When using a designated driver, almost half of the individuals reported drinking more on that occasion than usual, with approximately half of those having at least three more drinks than usual. One-third of respondents reported having used taxis to get home instead of driving on occasion. These results indicate that driving after drinking continues to be a problem among young adults. Alternative means of getting to and from bars, clubs and restaurants should be explored. Better promotion of designated driver and safe ride home programs also is needed.

• Record URL:
  • http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/13/3/168
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13538047
• Authors:
  • Rivara, Frederick P
  • Relyea-Chew, Annemarie
  • Wang, Jin
  • Riley, Suzette
  • Boisvert, Deanne
  • Gomez, Tony
• Publication Date: 2007-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 168-172
• Serial:
  • Injury Prevention
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
  • ISSN: 1353-8047
  • EISSN: 1475-5785
  • Serial URL: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol abuse; Alcohol use; Behavior; Designated drivers; Drunk driving; Random sampling; Surveys; Taxi services; Young adults
• Uncontrolled Terms: Safe ride programs
• Geographic Terms: Portland (Oregon); Seattle (Washington); Spokane (Washington)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01054763
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 1 2007 7:42AM