Estimating social-psychological effects in decisions to drink and drive: a factorial survey approach

Although there has been considerable research on both habitual drinking drivers and aggregate-level trends in automobile fatalities as a result of legal countermeasures to deter drinking drivers, little is known about the occasional driver who drinks away from home. The present study uses a factorial survey design to gather individual-level data to examine situational dimensions that influence 95 college students' responses to opportunities to drink and drive. Implications from the study are that the level of alcohol impairment, distance to be driven, weather conditions, time of day and existence of driving alternatives have significant effects on students' intentions to drink and drive. Other significant variables include the number of police roadblocks, familiarity with roads, the way in which incidents of drunken driving are reported in the community and the number of passengers depending on the driver for transportation.