INTRODUCTION: Brazil is one of the countries with the highest rates of alcohol-related traffic infractions, but little is known about the profile of the drivers who commit them. Identifying the characteristics of impaired drivers is essential for planning preventive actions. OBJECTIVE: To compare drug use and driving behavior profiles of drivers with and without alcohol-related infractions. METHODS: 178 drivers stopped at routine roadblocks were assessed by traffic agents who conducted standard roadblock procedures (document verification; request of a breathalyzer test [BT]). Drug use and driving behavior data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Subjects were divided into three groups: drivers who refused the BT (RDs, n = 72), drivers who tested positive on the BT (PDs, n = 34), and drivers who had committed other infractions (ODs, n = 72). RESULTS: The proportion of alcohol use in the last year was higher among RDs (100%) than in the PD and OD groups (97.1% and 72.2% respectively, p < 0.001). Lifetime prevalence of cannabis and cocaine use for the overall sample was 44.3% and 18.2%, respectively. Fewer individuals in the OD group (31.5%) reported having been stopped at roadblocks in the previous year compared to the PDs (55.9%) and RDs (48.6%, p = 0.03). However, a higher proportion of RDs reported drunk driving in the same period (87.5%; PD 69.7%; OD 26.9%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Essential differences among groups were observed. RDs had a higher proportion of alcohol use and drunk driving in the previous year; drivers who fit into this particular group may be unresponsive or less responsive to social deterrence and enforcement actions.
INTRODUCTION: Brazil is one of the countries with the highest rates of alcohol-related traffic infractions, but little is known about the profile of the drivers who commit them. Identifying the characteristics of impaired drivers is essential for planning preventive actions. OBJECTIVE: To compare drug use and driving behavior profiles of drivers with and without alcohol-related infractions. METHODS: 178 drivers stopped at routine roadblocks were assessed by traffic agents who conducted standard roadblock procedures (document verification; request of a breathalyzer test [BT]). Drug use and driving behavior data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Subjects were divided into three groups: drivers who refused the BT (RDs, n = 72), drivers who tested positive on the BT (PDs, n = 34), and drivers who had committed other infractions (ODs, n = 72). RESULTS: The proportion of alcohol use in the last year was higher among RDs (100%) than in the PD and OD groups (97.1% and 72.2% respectively, p < 0.001). Lifetime prevalence of cannabis and cocaine use for the overall sample was 44.3% and 18.2%, respectively. Fewer individuals in the OD group (31.5%) reported having been stopped at roadblocks in the previous year compared to the PDs (55.9%) and RDs (48.6%, p = 0.03). However, a higher proportion of RDs reported drunk driving in the same period (87.5%; PD 69.7%; OD 26.9%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Essential differences among groups were observed. RDs had a higher proportion of alcohol use and drunk driving in the previous year; drivers who fit into this particular group may be unresponsive or less responsive to social deterrence and enforcement actions.
Authors: R A Shults; R W Elder; D A Sleet; J L Nichols; M O Alao; V G Carande-Kulis; S Zaza; D M Sosin; R S Thompson Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2001-11 Impact factor: 5.043
Authors: Thomas G Brown; Marie Claude Ouimet; Louise Nadeau; Christina Gianoulakis; Martin Lepage; Jacques Tremblay; Maurice Dongier Journal: Drug Alcohol Rev Date: 2009-07
Authors: Juanita A Haagsma; Nicholas Graetz; Ian Bolliger; Mohsen Naghavi; Hideki Higashi; Erin C Mullany; Semaw Ferede Abera; Jerry Puthenpurakal Abraham; Koranteng Adofo; Ubai Alsharif; Emmanuel A Ameh; Walid Ammar; Carl Abelardo T Antonio; Lope H Barrero; Tolesa Bekele; Dipan Bose; Alexandra Brazinova; Ferrán Catalá-López; Lalit Dandona; Rakhi Dandona; Paul I Dargan; Diego De Leo; Louisa Degenhardt; Sarah Derrett; Samath D Dharmaratne; Tim R Driscoll; Leilei Duan; Sergey Petrovich Ermakov; Farshad Farzadfar; Valery L Feigin; Richard C Franklin; Belinda Gabbe; Richard A Gosselin; Nima Hafezi-Nejad; Randah Ribhi Hamadeh; Martha Hijar; Guoqing Hu; Sudha P Jayaraman; Guohong Jiang; Yousef Saleh Khader; Ejaz Ahmad Khan; Sanjay Krishnaswami; Chanda Kulkarni; Fiona E Lecky; Ricky Leung; Raimundas Lunevicius; Ronan Anthony Lyons; Marek Majdan; Amanda J Mason-Jones; Richard Matzopoulos; Peter A Meaney; Wubegzier Mekonnen; Ted R Miller; Charles N Mock; Rosana E Norman; Ricardo Orozco; Suzanne Polinder; Farshad Pourmalek; Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar; Amany Refaat; David Rojas-Rueda; Nobhojit Roy; David C Schwebel; Amira Shaheen; Saeid Shahraz; Vegard Skirbekk; Kjetil Søreide; Sergey Soshnikov; Dan J Stein; Bryan L Sykes; Karen M Tabb; Awoke Misganaw Temesgen; Eric Yeboah Tenkorang; Alice M Theadom; Bach Xuan Tran; Tommi J Vasankari; Monica S Vavilala; Vasiliy Victorovich Vlassov; Solomon Meseret Woldeyohannes; Paul Yip; Naohiro Yonemoto; Mustafa Z Younis; Chuanhua Yu; Christopher J L Murray; Theo Vos Journal: Inj Prev Date: 2015-12-03 Impact factor: 2.399