Publication Details

The young drinking driver: Cause or effect? 

Type: conferencePapers

Author(s): Waller, Patricia F.; Waller, Marcus B.

Pages: 46

Publisher: UNC Highway Safety Research Center

Url: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/40114/

Publication Date: 1984

Address: Chapel Hill, NC

Abstract: This paper attempts to bring together a variety of lines of research to focus on the issue of the young drinking driver --what are some of the causal factors in the creation of young drinking drivers; where does, and where should, the responsibility for this problem lie; and, perhaps most importantly, what are the most effective points of intervention? The paper reviews briefly the dimensions of the problem, determinants of countermeasure selection, possible countermeasures and their effectiveness, special factors affecting drinking and driving in young people, and finally drunk driving as a major public health problem. The thesis of this paper is that drunk driving is a major public health problem, and that young people suffer disproportionately high rates of morbidity and mortality as a result of drinking and driving. Viewed in the traditional public health perspective, drinking and driving among young people should best respond to preventive measures focused on the larger society rather than to measures that deal principally with the individual who has been identified as an offender. In considering preventive measures, it is also necessary to recognize the entire range and extent of influence in our society that are relevant to the young person's decision whether to drink and drive.

Conference name: Research workshop on alcohol and the drinking driver, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, May 2-4, 1984