TSRA stands for Traffic Safety Research Abstracts/Applications.  The NCAAD (National Commission Against Drunk Driving) provides this Web Site to those who are interested in the research done on areas related to drunk driving.  It focuses on these six topics: Youth and Adolescents, Young Adults, Chronic Drunk Drivers, Using Technology to Prevent DWI, Treatment of DUI offenders, and Legal Sanctions, but also allows readers to search for related topics they might have available (TSRA search).  The site presents the facts and figures in a summarized form which is easy to read over quickly.  It also suggests ways to apply this information to prevent drunk driving.  After each section, there is a list of sources which viewers can also click on to find more details.

What is nice about this site is that you do not need to actually read all of the topics to get most of the information because they overlap in the facts.  Then, if you do read all of the sections, the repetitiveness is helpful in remembering what you have read. What I did not like about this site was the lack of definitions. For example, they do not really explain what interlock devices do or how home arrest works. I also was not sure if there was an actual difference between DWI (driving while intoxicated) and DUI (driving under the influence).
 

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1.  Youth and Adolescents
The main point here is that the typical methods of presenting facts and using scare tactics are not that effective at keeping teens from drinking and driving.  The article suggests to change the attitudes of the students by actually involving them in promoting measures of prevention.  Another solution to keeping youths and adolescents from drinking and driving is to come up with stronger legal penalties, for example the zero tolerance laws and prosecuting DUI offenders as adults with permanent records.
 
 

2.  Young Adults
The abstract on Young Adults (ages 21-34) states that they cause the most alcohol-related "accidents," probably because of feelings of being invincible.  It seems that social rewards (like acceptance and fun) take priority over the the consequences of taking risks.  This idea of doing something even if one knows it is wrong is thought to be a "normal" behavior of this age group.  The experts again found that scare tactics do not work.  The approach they suggest is to focus on how alcohol causes impairment and what the consequences of drinking and driving have on one's self and loved ones.  The goal is honest communication which promotes empowerment and self-control.  The messages can be focused to specific groups (male and female), and can be placed at popular meeting places or the workplace.
 
 

3.  Chronic Drunk Drivers
They are defined as people who abuse alcohol or other substances and continue to drive under the influence. It is noted here that the majority of chronic drunk drivers are white males ages 21-34. Because of the high death-injury figures and the increasing economic costs caused by chronic drunk drivers, they suggest a different strategy. The standard license suspension works on the general population, but because chronic drunk drivers are alcoholics, their judgment is impaired. Also, time between the arrest and the revokation of the license is too long to be effective, it needs to be taken away at the moment of the arrest. They find that 80% of those whose licenses were suspended continue to drive because the chances of being caught are slim (the arrest rate probability is 1 in 2000). For this group, jail time and community service is also ineffective so they suggest taking away the vehicle. Other ways to deal with the problem are interlock programs (a device to put on the car), counseling, and home arrest.
 
 

4.  Using Technology to Prevent DWI
In this abstract, they elaborate on some solutions that were given in other sections. For example, they mention that the ignition interlock devices reduced recidivism when the car is equipped but then go back up when they are taken off. They also say that the home arrest (electric monitoring) can be more effective than jail time, and it is more cost effective because the DWI offenders have to pay for it. Another technological idea is to screen DWI offenders for alcohol dependency before sentencing in order to provide the right help to reduce the chances of recidivism.
 
 

5.  Treatment of DUI Offenders
This abstract attends to the fact that most DUI offenders have problems with alcohol and/or drug abuse (70% in Maryland). In order to reduce the rates of multiple offences of DUI, many states have come up with remedial interventions. The traditional legal sanctions of license suspension and jail only work on the general population and the educational rehabilitation is not effective alone. For multiple offenders and first time offenders with drinking or drug problems, experts say that this information can be combined with licensing sanctions, psychotherapy, counseling, and follow-up supervision (probation officer or aftercare) to reduce recidivism and alcohol related crashes by 7-9%. They suggest a 1-2 year program.
 
 

6.  Legal Sanctions
The experts come to the conclusion that there should be harsher penalties for driving drunk and that the laws should be better enforced. For example, since one can drive drunk 200-2000 times before getting caught, there should be sobriety check points and definite punishment. Some other solutions that are provided include: 1) limiting the availability of alcohol by restricting alcohol outlet density on a geographical and per capita basis 2) lowering the legal blood alcohol level to .08% from .1% 3) increasing the price of alcohol through sales tax 4) enacting zero tolerance laws for drivers under 21...youth caught drinking and driving should be prosecuted as adults 5) creating server intervention and server liability laws.

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2.  DWI
This page on Driving While Intoxicated has informative charts related to DWI.  One shows the fatalities over the years and another is a BAL chart that has data for both men and women.  It also gives facts under categories such as "what is considered drunk" and "what happens when you drink."  For example alcohol consumption causes poor judgment, slower reflexes,  loss of concentration, and vision impairment.  The main goal of this site is to educate people on DWI and help them to make more responsible decisions.
 

3.  ADD
Against Drunk Driving is an organization in Canada that was started because of a death caused by an alcohol-related crash and someone felt the need to do something about it.  Their goal is to "reduce death and injury caused by impaired drivers through educational means."  The members of this group include victims of these crashes, teens, volunteers, and concerned citizens.  They have links to children's activity pages, interesting facts, and other related sites.  It is a good idea to incorporate all ages, especially children because their lives can be affected by drunk drivers and eventually they will be faced with making important decision about alcohol and driving.  The facts given show that drunk driving mortality rates are similar to the United States.  Other facts are in a way common sense that we would not normally notice.  For example, more crashes occur in summer over winter, one-fourth of them on Saturdays, probably because people go out and party more in the summer time (especially high school and college students).  I think it could be somewhat effective with the general public but it still does not directly reach the ones already causing the accidents.
 

4.  BADD
Businesses Against Drunk Drivers, Inc., a non-profit corporation, uses the business industry to "combat" drunk driving.  It began in 1987 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the idea that "the workplace is an ideal location to deliver prevention education."  Not only do they provide printed materials and speakers for businesses and the community, they also have public awareness campaigns and team-up with restaurants and festival events to create a means of safe alternative transportation for those who are drinking.  They look to create an ideal place like Norway where the people care about the law, being responsible by always having a designated driver or cab service when going out drinking or to parties.  It seems to make sense to reach a larger number of people through the workplace.  With both the use of education and providing prevention means, maybe people will realize the importance of such efforts.
 

5.  CADD
Campaign Against Drinking and Driving began in 1985 by two fathers in Great Britain who each lost a child in separate drunk driving  incidents.  They were upset at the way the justice system disregards the feelings of the victims and their families.  They believe that deaths caused by drunk drivers should not be considered mere accidents.  They aim: 1) to gain more support and compensation for the victims and their families,  2) to reduce the number of drunk driving deaths and injuries, and  3) to get more realistic sentencing for DWI offfenders.  In order to make things happen, they write to government committees in attempt to make changes in the justice system like harsher penalties and ways to make the crimes easier to prove in court.  This group seems to be good advocators of what they believe in.  Their approach of trying to persuade their government to make specific changes a little at a time makes sense because if the laws are more strict and carried out as they should be, then people may take them more seriously.
 

6.  MADD
Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a well-known organization that was started after a 13 year old was killed in a hit-and-run by a man that was out of jail on bail for two days on another hit-and-run crash.  He had three previous arrests with two prior convictions yet was able to plea-bargain to vehicular manslaughter.  This group of mothers is both a support group for the victims of drunk driving and an active voice for prevention of drunk driving.  They emphasize that drunk driving is a violent crime, not just an accident by pointing out that choice is involved.  They push for things like:  1) frequent and regular use of highly publicized sobriety checkpoints  and/or other high visibility enforcement programs to find and arrest drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs,  2) mandatory BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) testing for crashes involving death or serious injury,  3) an anti charge reduction law so that drunk drivers who have caused death or serious injury cannot negotiate to a lesser offense,  and   4) minimum security facilities that include assessment and treatment for those convicted.  MADD is convincing because it has a strong following and they make their voices heard.
 

7.  SADD
Students Against Drunk Driving was created by a hockey coach who had two players die in separated alcohol-related crashes.  It consists of over 4 million members in about 20,000 chapters in all grade levels including college, therefore SADD is easy to find on the Web.  The main message is that there is "no responsible illegal drinking."  There are many programs to fight teen drinking and driving like:  1) Project Graduation - activities for after proms and graduations that show that you do not need to drink to have fun,  2) Safe Homes - where the neighborhood and community work together to have parents become familiar with each other's homes in order to cut down on illegal drinking and driving,  and 3) having students sign contracts that says they will call for a ride if intoxicated - this means using correct judgment and helping others in similar situations.  The methods of SADD use the idea mentioned in the TSRA abstracts where getting people involved in prevention activism can cause a change in attitude.  I think that if they are successful in first getting the students to listen, participate, and join the organization, then they can have an effect in curbing the number of crashes caused by drunk driving.  Also having sites on the Web makes it easier to catch the attention of the teen and college age group.
 

There was also another interesting site that I encountered that gave hints on how to defend against DWI and DUI, but was more of an advertisement for lawyers.
 

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When I first started this report, I realized how little I actually knew about DWI.  The instructions helped to guide me into what I needed to search for.  The abstracts were easy to get through and understand.  The next step was surfing the internet for pages that related to the topic.  It always takes me a while to remember how to use the search engines the most efficiently, but I managed to find more than I needed.  I had to pace myself because if I tried to do too much in one day I would get extremely tired and not look at things carefully.  As I worked, I checked on the progress of my classmates to make sure I was on the right track.  When I do finish up, I need to check on the way I word things to avoid plagarism.

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