A Citywide Analysis of DWI Events in Association with Bar Reopening and Increased Restaurant Capacity

During the COVID-19 pandemic many bars closed. Simultaneously, many persons experienced stay at home orders linked to an increase in alcohol use. The net impact of these restrictions on the incidence of driving while intoxicated (DWI) events is unclear.

We conducted a retrospective observational analysis using publicly reported data regarding police traffic encounters. We analyzed changes in DWI encounters in the San Antonio, TX metropolitan area before (1-14 October 2020) versus after (15-28 October 2020) bars reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic. We made these comparisons by comparing medians and through regression modelling to control for potential confounders.

During the study period, 16,609 police traffic encounters met inclusion criteria. Of these, 353 were DWI encounters, 594 were officer traffic stop encounters, 14,565 were traffic related encounters, 113 were wrong way driver encounters, and 984 were other traffic violations. In the before and after analysis, there was no difference in the daily median numbers of DWI encounters (12 versus 10, p=0.461), wrong way driver incidents (3 versus 2, p=0.328), or other traffic violations (34 versus 35, p=0.854). The multivariable regression model similarly identified no change in the daily incidence of DWI encounters (p=0.281).

We detected no change in the incidence of DWI encounters immediately following the reopening of bars in the San Antonio metropolitan area.