Psychology of DWI Activism in Cyberspace: Helping To Make The Roads Safer For Drivers

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NCADD Focus Areas:

Youth and Adolescents
            The research has shown that providing factual information and using scare tactics have been the primary methods of preventing underage drinking and driving.  However, it is believed that these methods are flawed and have not been effective.  These methods have often backfired and have actually caused adolescents to drive intoxicated.  The prevention campaigns that have seen success are those that stress a change in attitude about the issue.  These programs had the youths actually take an active role in the educational process through activities in their schools and communities.  In addition to better programs, some experts suggest that stricter laws and penalties be enacted by all states.  One suggestion is to prosecute juvenile offenders as adults and maintain the records into adulthood.

Young Adults
            The large majority of alcohol related auto accidents are committed by people between the ages of 21-34.  Studies show that alcohol consumption is central to the social life of this age group and driving while impaired is considered normal activity.  Most young adults believe driving drunk is wrong, but claim that it comes with social rewards such as fun and peer acceptance.  The preventive measures taken against this age group differs from the adolescent group.  Scare tactics are used sparingly.  Rather, positive images of intervention and messages of self-control are used.  These messages are put where large groups of young adults will likely receive them, such as bars, magazines, or the work site.  The work site was listed as an ideal location and marketing campaign kits to employers was suggested.

Chronic Drunk Drivers
            Chronic drunk drivers are mostly alcoholics or drug dependent individuals.  The majority also fall into the age 21-34 young adult category. Chronic drunk drivers are responsible for 10,000 deaths and 250,000 injuries each year.  License suspension is currently the most prevalent penalty for DUI offenders.  This has been somewhat effective for the general population, but it has some drawbacks and modifications to the law are being suggested.  One drawback is that the actual suspension of the license occurs a long period after the arrest.  It is suggested that the license be suspended immediately at the time of arrest and also have mandatory treatment programs in addition rather than as a substitute.  A review of 215 studies on DUI offenders support the claim that rehabilitation combined with license suspension is a very effective combination.
 

Other Topics:

Using Technology to Prevent DWI
            The two main technological tools described include an ignition interlocking device on the offenders car and home arrest with electronic monitoring.  It is estimated that 80% of DUI offenders continue to drive despite their license being suspend and the probability of them being caught is very low.  Therefore, many states have begun to implement these tools and have had much success.  The rate of recidivism has been significantly reduced when the devices have been put into the cars and the rate of recidivism rose again when they were removed.  It is believed that not providing an option and requiring offenders to use the device will effectively increase traffic safety.  Those who violate the policy or tamper with the devices could then be put on home arrest with electronic monitoring.  The home arrest could also be used as a punishment by itself.  It could be used in place of jail time and ease the economic burden by not crowding the prisons and also having the offenders pay for the program themselves.

Treatment of DUI Offenders
            Many of the DUI offenders have been found to be alcoholics or drug abusers.  Traditional legal sanctions and treatment programs alone have been effective with the general population and light drinkers, but remain ineffective against offenders with severe alcohol problems.  Numerous studies show that a combination of license suspension with treatment programs, counseling, and follow up supervision has been more effective than these treatments by themselves.  It is not definite on how long an intervention program should last, but some experts suggest one to two years for successful behavior change.

Legal Sanctions
            At the present time, license suspension and incarceration are the most used legal sanctions against DUI offenders.  Most people believe that the punishment for DUI should be much more severe and also believe that being caught for DUI is rare.  Experts suggest that DUI enforcement should be taken more seriously and enforced more aggresively to avoid having the hundreds of offenders that drive on the road and go uncaught.  License suspension, jail time, and public service has been found to do little in reducing the repeat offense by chronic alcoholics.  Using ignition interlocking devices and home monitoring is proposed as an alternate penalty.  Other suggestions include lowering the legal BAC to 0.08%, increasing the tax on alcohol, and having zero tolerance laws toward underage DUI offenders.

Community Alcohol Information Program
http://www.nh-dwi.com/
            Community Alcohol Information Program (CAIP) is a private organization based in New Hampshire and was founded in 1977 with the purpose of alcohol education, assessment, and evaluation.  The page includes information about alcohol, treatment programs, and DWI laws.  CAIP has an Impaired Driver Intervention Program (IDIP) designed to share ideas and facts about drunk driving.  They do not preach alcohol abstinence, rather they promote awareness and education about alcohol and hope to lead people into making good decisions about alcohol abuse and driving.
 
National College for DUI Defense
http://seamless.com/ncdd/index.html
 

Reasonable Drivers Unanimous
http://sunsite.unc.edu/rdu/home2.html
 
 
DWI Defense Central
http://dwidefense.com/frmain.htm
 
 
MADD On-line
http://www.madd.org/
 
 
NJ-DWI.  Drunk Driving Defense Information
http://www.nj-dwi.com/index.htm
 

Alcohol Alert
http://www.alcoholalert.com/
 

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