The Social Ecology of Drinking and Driving:  A Two-Population Model
Component Director:  Paul J. Gruenewald, Ph.D.

Drinking and driving continues to be one of the leading sources of death related to alcohol use in the United States.  In 2004, there were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities, representing about 39% of all traffic fatalities for that year.  These deaths are not only tragic, but have huge economic costs.  Annual costs related to driving after drinking have been estimated at $51 billion.  These injuries and deaths occur despite the many prevention, enforcement, and deterrence strategies that have been put in place over the past 6 decades. 

This study explores one central explanation for the persistence of drunken driving in the US – that is, that the characteristics of social situations in which people drink encourage drinking and driving.  It is argued that social and economic systems for the distribution of alcohol have become linked to the social situations in which drunken driving and other alcohol problems occur.  The commercial interests of businesses that sell alcohol and the social interests of social hosts who serve alcohol lead to the creation and maintenance of circumstances in which problem drinking may be maintained or encouraged.  Drinkers, on their part, actively seek places where others like themselves use alcohol, reinforcing one another’s problem behaviors whenever drinking in these places.

The scientific question that this research will address is: To what extent does the large number of alcohol outlets in urban areas serve to maintain drinking and drunken driving in our communities?

This study will test four central hypotheses:

• Most drinkers use alcohol moderately and drink in a large variety of different places and situations.  Some will report that they occasional drive while drunk.
• A minority of drinkers use alcohol less moderately and are more likely to drink in a limited number of places where they feel comfortable drinking more heavily.  These drinkers will report repeatedly driving while drunk.
• These heavier drinkers will drink in fewer places, and very often the same places as other heavier drinkers.   
• Characteristics of outlets will reflect the characteristics of the drinkers who frequent these outlets, demonstrating the reinforcing properties of drinking places on the clustering of this drinking problem. 

In order to study these hypotheses, we will administer a telephone survey to 10,000 drinkers from 50 cities in California, assessing their drinking habits, use of alcohol outlets, driving after drinking, drunken driving, and personality characteristics.  We will also collect information directly from outlets that serve alcohol in six communities – identifying the clustering of outlet characteristics across types of establishment, the way alcohol is served, and the type of clientele.  This information will be analyzed together with records of traffic crashes in the communities to assess the contributions of these outlets to crash rates.

The goal of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the social mechanisms that support drinking and drunken driving in community settings.  This understanding can contribute to the development of better regulatory and enforcement strategies to prevent alcohol impaired driving.