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Drink driving during the COVID-19 pandemic
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Drink driving during the COVID-19 pandemic

Natalie Watson-Brown, Verity Truelove, Emily Parker and Jeremy Davey
Transportation Research. Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Vol.78, pp.369-380
2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.02.020
PMCID: PMC9760111
PMID: 36567963
Appears in  COVID-19 Research
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.02.020View
Published Version

Abstract

coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic random breath testing drink driving road policing
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, static roadside random breath testing (RBT) was temporarily suspended between 16 March and 12 June 2020 in Queensland, Australia. In addition to restrictions on travel and social interactions, this provided a unique opportunity to examine changes in drink-driving behaviour during and after a reduction in RBT operations in the community. Three cross-sectional surveys were disseminated at different time points to examine these differences. Over three surveys, 1,193 Queensland licensed drivers aged 18 years and over (M = 36.9, SD = 16.7) responded. While overall drink driving decreased over the three survey periods, there were groups where drink driving, or the intention to drink drive, increased over the same period. This could be expected as a result of community restrictions on socialising and travel behaviours. In each of the surveys, prior engagement in drink driving was the strongest predictor of intention to increase future engagement and actual engagement. These drink drivers were more likely aged 18-24 years, male, and held restricted licensure. Notably, a small number of participants who reported drink driving, and/or intention to drink drive during the survey period, reported not having engaged in this behaviour previously. This suggested an increased likelihood of drink drivers experiencing punishment avoidance which may promote future engagement in this behaviour. Despite a decrease in social opportunities to drink, and the suspension of highly visible roadside breath testing sites, drink driving persisted. This research highlights the importance of RBTs as a general deterrent for drink driving.

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Psychology, Applied
Transportation

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