Passengers' decisions to ride with a driver under the influence of either alcohol or cannabis

The purpose of the present study was to identify the risk factors associated with passenger decisions to ride with a driver who is under the influence of either alcohol or cannabis.

We analyzed data from the 2008 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey (CADUMS), a nationally represented telephone sample of 16,672 Canadians age 15 and older, of whom 60.5% were female. Logistic regression analyses explored the effects of sociodemographic, substance use, and driving-behavior factors on the risk of riding with a drinking driver (RWDD) and riding with a cannabis-impaired driver (RWCD).

Risk factors for RWDD and RWCD were both shared and unique. Common risk factors were respondents' age, with young people at increased risk and those 65 years and older at decreased risk, and problematic alcohol use (as measured by Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test subscales). Having previously driven under the influence of alcohol increased the risk of RWDD, while RWCD was associated with having previously driven under the influence of cannabis.

Considerable legal and public health attention has been devoted to eliminating impaired driving, with particular focus on driver behavior. However, with the knowledge that impaired driving is strongly related to being a passenger of an impaired driver, prevention efforts to reduce the prevalence of impaired driving must be multifaceted, targeting passengers as well as drivers. Links between attitudes, beliefs, risk-taking behavior, and related structural conditions should be emphasized, with passengers being encouraged to recognize impairment in others and make sensible choices.