Drink driving deterrents and self-reported offending behaviours among a sample of Queensland motorists

The efficacy of drink driving (driving under the influence, DUI) countermeasures to deter motorists from driving over the legal limit is extremely important when considering the personal and economic impact the offending behavior has on the community. This paper reports on an examination of 780 Queensland motorists' perceptions of legal and non-legal sanctions and their deterrent impact on self-reported offending behavior.

The data were collected via a telephone survey of motorists recruited from a random sample of all listed telephone numbers in the state, adjusted according to district population figures.

The results indicated that there were a range of legal and non-legal factors that were significantly associated with self-reported DUI including: the perceived risk of apprehension and license loss (legal factors); and concerns relating to the possibility of being involved in a crash and hurting another person (non-legal factors). However, additional multivariate analyses indicated that while both legal and non-legal factors significantly predicted self-reported DUI, higher alcohol consumption levels and more favorable attitudes to the behavior also appear to increase the likelihood of DUI.

The paper will outline the direct implications of the research project such as the development and promotion of countermeasures that both effectively deter motorists and address pro-offending attitudes.

The findings also highlight that DUI remains a relatively common behaviour among some motoring groups and that there is a need to extend current levels of enforcement as well as adopt innovative strategies to enhance the impact of these operations on the offending behaviour.