BACKGROUND: We examined the associations between selected state-level graduated driving licensing (GDL) laws and use-and-lose laws (laws that allow for the suspension of a driver's license for underage alcohol violations including purchase, possession, or consumption) with individual-level alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors among high school youth. METHODS: Logistic regression models with fixed effects for state were used to examine the associations between the selected state-level laws and drinking and driving behaviors youth aged 16 to 17 years (obtained from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS); responses dichotomized as "0 times" or "1 or more times") over an extended period of time (1999 to 2009). RESULTS: A total of 11.7% of students reported having driven after drinking any alcohol and 28.2% reported riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking on 1 or more occasions in the past 30 days. Restrictive GDL laws and use-and-lose laws were associated with decreased driving after drinking any alcohol and riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Restrictive GDL and use-and-lose laws may help to bolster societal expectations and values about the hazards of drinking and driving behaviors and are therefore partly responsible for the decline in these alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors.
BACKGROUND: We examined the associations between selected state-level graduated driving licensing (GDL) laws and use-and-lose laws (laws that allow for the suspension of a driver's license for underage alcohol violations including purchase, possession, or consumption) with individual-level alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors among high school youth. METHODS: Logistic regression models with fixed effects for state were used to examine the associations between the selected state-level laws and drinking and driving behaviors youth aged 16 to 17 years (obtained from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS); responses dichotomized as "0 times" or "1 or more times") over an extended period of time (1999 to 2009). RESULTS: A total of 11.7% of students reported having driven after drinking any alcohol and 28.2% reported riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking on 1 or more occasions in the past 30 days. Restrictive GDL laws and use-and-lose laws were associated with decreased driving after drinking any alcohol and riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Restrictive GDL and use-and-lose laws may help to bolster societal expectations and values about the hazards of drinking and driving behaviors and are therefore partly responsible for the decline in these alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors.
Authors: Jo Anne Grunbaum; Laura Kann; Steve Kinchen; James Ross; Joseph Hawkins; Richard Lowry; William A Harris; Tim McManus; David Chyen; Janet Collins Journal: MMWR Surveill Summ Date: 2004-05-21
Authors: Patricia A Cavazos-Rehg; Ashley J Housten; Melissa J Krauss; Shaina J Sowles; Edward L Spitznagel; Frank J Chaloupka; Richard Grucza; Lloyd D Johnston; Patrick M O'Malley; Laura J Bierut Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res Date: 2016-03-28 Impact factor: 3.455