Combined 1993, 1995 & 1997
Survey
Administration Findings
Chapter 1: Drinking and Driving Behaviors
This section provides information on the driving age public’s behaviors with regard to drinking and driving. Specifically it covers the following topics:
Drinking and Driving Behavior
Past-Year and Past-Month Drinking and Driving Prevalence
One in four (26%) persons age 16 to 64 have driven a motor vehicle within two hours of consuming alcohol in the past year. Males are two and one-half times as likely to exhibit such behavior as females, with 37% of males and 15% of females reporting at least one past-year drinking-driving trip. The pattern of males being about two to three times more likely than females to report driving within two hours of drinking is found across all races. [Figure 1-A].
White, non-Hispanic persons are more likely than any other racial group to report having driven within two hours of consuming alcohol, with 28% of this group reporting this behavior. Those of Asian descent are the least likely to report driving after drinking, with just 13% saying they have done so. Between one in six and one in five persons age 16-64 in the other racial/ethnic groups report drinking-driving behavior, including 16% of Black non-Hispanic persons, 17% of Hispanics and 21% of American Indians/Eskimos.
Persons in their 20’s are the most likely to have driven within two hours of consuming alcohol in the past year, with more than one-third of those in this age group reporting such behavior. Non-Hispanic Whites age 21 to 29 report the highest prevalence of this behavior with 37% driving within two hours of drinking. This is almost twice the rate of 21 to 29 year olds in other racial groups. [Figure 1-B].
Generally, relatively small proportions of persons age 16 to 20 report driving within two hours of consuming alcohol (about 8%), with the heaviest prevalence among persons in their 20’s, tapering off gradually as one ages. While this pattern holds true among non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks, and among Asians, drinking-driving behavior reportedly remains steady among Hispanics through their 60’s, while it stays heavy among American Indians/Eskimos into their 30’s and 40’s then drops off sharply in their forties. [Figure 1-B].
While one of the goals of this study is to obtain past-year estimates of drinking and driving behaviors, the accuracy of specific recall of drinking-driving trips over shorter periods is generally more reliable, particularly for behaviors that occur frequently. Thus, past 30 day drinking-driving trips were also measured.
One in seven persons age 16 to 64 has driven within two hours of drinking alcohol within the past 30 days. Relative to reported past-year behavior, about one-half of all past-year drinker-drivers have made at least one drinking-driving trip within the past 30 days. Similar patterns are found to past-year drink-driving behavior by age, race and gender. [Figures 1-C-D].
Frequency of Past-Year and Past-Month Drinking-Driving Trips
Those who have driven within two hours of drinking alcohol in the past year, report an average of about 11 such trips. Males are not only more likely to report drinking-driving behavior, but those who do drink and drive do so two and one-half times as often as do females. Males report an average of 14.4 drinking-driving trips as compared to 5.9 average trips by female drinker-drivers. [Figure 1-E].
While the sample sizes are small, it appears that Asian women and men report relatively similar numbers of past-year drinking-driving trips, while male American Indians/Eskimos report significantly higher past year drinking-driving trips than their female counterparts. Similar patterns are found for past 30 day trips. [Figure 1-F].
FIGURE 1: PAST-YEAR AND PAST-MONTH DRINKING AND DRIVING
BEHAVIOR
*Sample base for figures on this page:
|
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic | |
|
Total |
10453 |
7955 |
1026 |
274 |
197 |
743 |
|
Drove after drinking past year |
2703 |
2277 |
160 |
40 |
42 |
135 |
Estimates of Total Drinking-Driving Trips
An analysis was undertaken to estimate the total drinking-driving trips for the driving public based on self-reported data. For the purposes of this analysis, alcohol-impaired driving was defined as any positive response to the question "In the PAST 30 DAYS how many times have you driven a motor vehicle within two hours after drinking alcoholic beverages?"
Percent of Past-Month Drinking-Driving Trips by Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic White drinker-drivers account for the lion’s share of all past month drinking-driving trips, with 85% of all monthly trips. This is a disproportionately high share as this group accounts for just 77% of the total 16 to 64 year old population. In contrast, non-Hispanic Blacks report just 5% of all past-month drinking-driving occasions and account for 9% of all drivers 16 to 64. [Figure 2-A].
Calculation of Drinking-Driving Trips
For this analysis, the past 30 day measure was felt to be more reliable than the self-reported past 12-month measure. The total number of drinking-driving trips was calculated for each respondent by multiplying the self-reported number of trips in the past month by 12 to obtain a yearly total. The number of trips was summed across respondents and is reported by race/ethnicity in Figure 2-B.
It is important to note that the total trip data presented here may not reflect the true number of alcohol-impaired driving trips made each year for a number of reasons: people may not be able to accurately recall the number of such trips, the previous month may not be indicative of the respondent’s total year drinking-driving trips and people may under-report such behavior if they feel it is socially desirable to do so. This analysis is meant to provide an approximation of the range of possible drinking-driving trips by race/ethnicity. It shows the estimated number of trips and the likely high and low number based on the error range of the estimate.
Overall, drinker-drivers age 16 to 64 made between an estimated 812 million to 948 million drinking-driving trips in the past year (an estimated 880 million trips with an error range of plus or minus 68 million trips). Whites (non-Hispanic) made about 741 million (or 84%) of these total trips, non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics each made about 46 million (5%), American Indians/Eskimos made 28 million, and Asians made about 10 million drinking-driving trips. The error range around these total yearly trip estimates by gender and age category is shown at the bottom of Figure 2.
Figure 2-C presents the proportion of total drinking-driving trips made by race/ethnic group in relation to the proportion that each of these groups comprises in the total population. While non-Hispanic Whites account for 77% of the driving age population, they make 84% of all drinking-driving trips. Non-Hispanic Blacks account for only 5% of all drinking-driving trips while they make up 9% of the population. Those in other racial/ethnic groups make up about their fair share of drinking-driving trips.
FOOTNOTE: While past month trips were thought to be a more accurate representation than past 12 month recall, the reader is cautioned that a seasonal bias is possible in such reporting. If the past year measure were used rather than the past month (projected out for 12 months), the total number of trips would be approximately 748 million rather than 880 million trips.
FIGURE 2: NATIONAL ESTIMATES OF TOTAL DRINKING AND DRIVING
TRIPS
*A drinking-driving trip is defined as an occasion when a driver drove within two hours after drinking any alcohol.
**Sample base for figures on this page:
|
1993, 1995 & 1997 |
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic |
Other/non-spec |
|
Drove after drinking past year |
2703 |
2277 |
160 |
40 |
42 |
135 |
49 |
|
Error ranges for total number of trips |
+ 68 |
+ 61 |
+14 |
+ 5 |
+18 |
+15 |
+ 5 |
Total drinking-driving trips were estimated by multiplying the number of drinking-driving trips in the past 30 days by 12 to yield a yearly estimate for each respondent. Total trips were summed across all respondents and data were projected to the total U.S. population age 16 or older.
Characteristics of the Most Recent Driving After Drinking Occasion
In order to obtain the most accurate estimates of self-reported drinking-driving occasions, it is important to ask about the experience individuals are most likely to remember. To this end, drinker-drivers were asked detailed questions about their "most recent" drinking-driving experience. Although the most recent occasion may not be reflective of the typical trip for any one individual, in aggregate, information on the most recent trip provides us with a representation of drinker-drivers as a whole.
Location of Most Recent Drinking Occasion
Bars/taverns and restaurants are the origin for nearly one-half (46%) of all drinking-driving trips. Other people’s homes and the drinker-driver’s own home are the starting point for about one in five most recent drinking-driving trips. [Figure 3-A]
Non-Hispanic Black and Asian drinker-drivers are most likely to drink in someone else’s home within two hours of them driving, while those of non-Hispanic White, Hispanic and American Indian/Eskimo descent are about equally likely to drink at a bar, restaurant or someone’s home within two hours of driving.
Length of Time Drank on Most Recent Occasion
On average, drinker-drivers consumed their alcoholic beverages over a period of about 3.5 hours on their most recent occasion of drinking-driving. Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics consumed their drinks in the shortest amount of time, while Asian and American Indian/Eskimo drinkers drank for more than four hours on their most recent drinking-driving occasion. [Figure 3-B]
Self-Reported Status in Relation to Legal Limit on Most Recent Drinking-Driving Occasion
About one in ten past-year drinker-drivers perceive that they were over the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle the last time they drove after consuming alcohol. Drinker-drivers of American Indian/Eskimo descent were twice as likely to feel they were over the legal limit than other groups (22% felt they were just over or well over the legal limit), while non-Hispanic White and Black drinker-drivers were the least likely to feel they were over the limit on their last trip. [Figure 3-C]
Miles Drove on Most Recent Occasion
Drinking-driving trips average about 16.1 miles from origin to destination. Non-Hispanic Black drinker-drivers report the farthest driving distances at 21 miles on average, while those of non-White/non-Black racial groups report driving an average of just 8.4 miles. [Figure 3-D]
Number of Passengers on Most Recent Occasion
About 52% of drinker-drivers have other passengers in the car with them during these trips. Including those who drive alone and those who drive with passengers, drinker-drivers travel with an average of .79 passengers per trip. Non-Hispanic Blacks are least likely to travel with passengers (42% do), while those of non-White and non-Black race average the most passengers during drinking-driving trips with an average of 1.1 passengers. The number of passengers on a drinking-driving trip has direct impact on the number of persons affected by drinking-driver trips. This was a new question in 1997 and should be monitored in future study waves. [Figure 3-E]
FIGURE 3: MOST RECENT DRIVING AFTER DRINKING OCCASION
**Sample base for figures on this page:
|
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic |
Other (Net) | |
|
Fig A/B/C Drove after drinking past year |
2572 |
2277 |
160 |
40 |
42 |
135 |
-- |
|
Fig D |
1537 |
1311 |
92 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
134 |
|
Fig E |
839 |
730 |
41 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
68 |
Characteristics of the Most Recent Drinking-Driving Occasion
Number of Drinks Per Sitting
On average, those who drink alcohol report that they consume an average of about 2.8 alcoholic beverages in a typical sitting. Males consumed an average of one additional drink than do women. Differences between gender are more prevalent among those of American Indian/Eskimo and Hispanic descent males in that these groups typically consume an average of almost three more drinks per sitting than their female counterparts. In contrast, Asian women and males consume a similar number of drinks per sitting. [Figure 4-A]
Number of Drinks on Most Recent Occasion
When the most recent drinking-driving occasion is considered, drinker-drivers report consuming about 2.8 alcoholic beverages, with persons of non-White and non-Black racial groups consuming more drinks on average than either White or Black drinker-drivers (3.4 drinks compared to 2.7 drinks on average). [Figure 4-B]
Estimated BAC Levels on Most Recent Occasion
To obtain impairment severity estimates of drinking-driving trips, Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels were estimated for the most recent drinking-driving occasion of each person who had driven within two hours of alcohol consumption in the past year (see page 5 for BAC calculation).
The average calculated BAC level among past-year drinker-drivers was .03 for the most recent drinking-driving occasion. Mean BAC levels for the most recent trip were slightly higher for non-White and non-Black drinker drivers (.04 compared to .03 for White and Black drinker drivers). [Figure 4-C]
BAC levels do not vary significantly based on where the person drank before driving. [Figure 4-D]
Overall, the vast majority (83%) of drinker-drivers are well below the legal BAC limit for adults when they drive within two hours of consuming alcohol, as they average BAC levels below .05. About one in ten (9%) drive with BAC levels between .05 and .079. About one in 12 (8%) drinker-drivers undertake these trips with a BAC at or above .08. [Figure 4-E]
FIGURE 4: CALCULATED ESTIMATE OF BAC (BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION) FOR
MOST RECENT DRINKING-DRIVING OCCASION
**Sample base for figures on this page:
|
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic |
Other (Net) | |
|
Fig A Drove after drinking past year |
2572 |
2277 |
160 |
40 |
42 |
135 |
-- |
|
Fig B |
1531 |
1302 |
92 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
137 |
|
Fig C/D/E |
1489 |
1266 |
88 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
135 |
Identifying Problem Drinkers
Defining CAGE Measures
A series of questions was asked of people who drank alcohol in the past year to help identify problem drinking. This series of four questions is represented by the acronym "CAGE" (Ewing, 1998) with each letter representing one of the four questions: "Have you felt you should cut down on your drinking? ("C" for "cut down"); "Have people annoyed ("A") you by criticizing you about your drinking?; "Have you felt bad or guilty ("G") about your drinking?"; "Have you had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?" ("E" for "eye-opener").
Differences by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
Non-Hispanic Whites who drink are the least likely of all racial groups to agree with any of the CAGE statements. About three in ten non-White males who have consumed alcohol in the past year say "yes" that they feel they should cut down on their drinking, while just 18% of non-Hispanic White males agree with this statement. Similarly, significantly lower proportions of non-Hispanic White males say they are annoyed by criticism about their drinking or have felt bad or guilty about their drinking than is true of males of other races [Figure 5-A].
Non-Hispanic White females also report slightly lower agreement with the CAGE measures than their female counterparts of other racial groups [Figure 5-B].
FIGURE 5: IDENTIFYING PROBLEM DRINKERS
*Drinking-drivers: Drove within two hours after drinking in the past year.
**Sample base for figures on this page:
|
Drank alcohol past year |
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Hispanics |
Other (Net) |
|
Males |
3612 |
2869 |
253 |
79 |
411 |
|
Females |
3299 |
2709 |
254 |
77 |
259 |
Identifying Problem Drinkers (continued)
Defining Problem Drinkers
For this analysis "problem drinkers" were defined as expressing agreement ("yes") to two or more of the four CAGE measures, or having consumed five or more drinks on four or more days in a typical 28-day period, or consumed eight or more drinks (nine for males) on at least one day in a typical 28-day period.
Overall, about 14% of the drinking public age 16 to 64 can be classified as a "problem drinker." This is true of 20% of past year drinker-drivers. While the sample size is relatively small (n=69), those of American Indian/Eskimo descent are more than three times as likely to be classified as a problem drinker using this definition, with 40% being classified as problem drinkers. Hispanic drinkers are also more likely than drinkers overall to be classified as problem drinkers (23%). [Figure 6-A]
About three of four (73%) problem drinkers are male. The largest proportion of non-Hispanic White problem drinkers are age 30 to 45 (41%), while non-Hispanic Black problem drinkers are more likely to be in their 20’s. [Figure 6-B and 6-C]
Problem drinkers of non-White/non-Black race are equally likely to be age 21 to 29 or 30 to 45. [Figure 6-D]
Estimated Calculated BAC Level of Problem Drinkers vs. Other Drinking Drivers
Overall problem drinkers are estimated to drive with BAC levels of more than twice that of other drinking-drivers. On their most recent drinking-driving trip, problem drinkers were estimated to have a calculated BAC level of about .05 as compared to a calculated BAC level of about .02 for other drivers who drink alcohol. While the sample sizes are small, this same pattern does not appear to be in evidence between problem drinkers and other driving drinkers who are of non-Hispanic Black race. [Figure 6-E]
FIGURE 6: PROBLEM DRINKERS
**Sample base for figures on this page: Past year drinkers (1995 +1997)
|
Total |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic |
Other (Net) | |
|
Total |
4298 |
3476 |
308 |
78 |
69 |
265 |
-- |
|
All problem drinkers |
632 |
445 |
40 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
107 |
|
Past-year drinker-driver problem drinkers |
307 |
253 |
17 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
37 |
|
Other drinker-drivers |
1182 |
1013 |
71 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
98 |
Riding with Unsafe Drivers
One of ten persons age 16 to 64 has ridden with a driver they thought may have consumed too much alcohol to drive safely. Those under age 20 are most likely to have been a passenger with someone that they thought might have drank too much to drive safely, with almost one in four riding with a potentially unsafe driver. Reports of such behavior decreases consistently with age. [Figure 7-A]
Persons of American Indian/Eskimo and Hispanic descent are most likely to report being the passenger in a vehicle with a driver who may have consumed too much alcohol to drive safely. They do so at a rate of almost double that of other racial/ethnic groups. [Figure 7-B]
When Decided Driver Was Unsafe
One in three (33%) persons age 16 to 64 who have ridden with someone they thought may have drank too much to drive safely made this assessment before they were riding in the vehicle, yet they decided to go with the driver anyway. [Figure 7-C]. Non-Hispanic Blacks and American Indians/Eskimos are more likely to have made this assessment prior to entering the vehicle. About four in ten of these passengers of a potentially dangerous driver decided the driver was unsafe prior to riding, compared to one in three of those in other racial groups.
FIGURE 7: RIDING WITH UNSAFE DRIVERS 
**Sample base for figures on this page:
|
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black |
Other (net) |
Asian |
American Indian/Eskimo |
Hispanic | |
|
Total |
7955 |
1026 |
1472 |
274 |
197 |
743 |
|
Drove with unsafe driver |
997 |
152 |
245 |
25 |
45 |
138 |
|
16-20 |
1221 |
240 |
384 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
21-29 |
1658 |
267 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
30-45 |
2874 |
324 |
492 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
46-64 |
2178 |
190 |
216 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
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