Drinking locations of drink-drivers: a comparative analysis of accident and nonaccident cases

This study utilizes data collected by the Perth (Australia) Traffic Police on the last drinking location of persons arrested for drink-driving either as a consequence of their being involved in a road traffic accident or as a result of failing a roadside breath test. A comparison of these data has found that significantly more persons involved in traffic accidents had been drinking at unlicensed locations, that is at private residences or in public places such as parks, than at licensed premises. It was also found that accident cases were more likely to involve males under 25 years; for those involved to have, on average, significantly higher blood alcohol levels than was the case for nonaccident drink-driving cases; and for most accidents to occur late at night and early morning. The significance of these findings were confirmed by logistic regression. A surprise incidental finding was that considerably more women had been arrested for drink-driving than had been previously reported in other studies, both in Australia and overseas.