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Title	Road Surveys: Driver attitudes to drinking and driving
Authors	Barker JM, Moore VM
Year	1990
Type	Conference Paper
Abstract	Random breath testing (RBT) by Police in South Australia was introduced in 1981 and there was a rather low level of enforcement during the first few years of operation. At Easter in 1987 there was a substantial increase in enforcement, with intensive associated publicity about drink driving and RBT. The higher level of enforcement of RBT has been maintained since then, with some periodic enhancement of publicity. Over the last decade, the NHMRC Road Accident Research Unit at the University of Adelaide has carried out a series of roadside surveys to assess the effects of the RBT program. In the surveys, driver breath alcohol levels were measured and certain details of the vehicle occupants were recorded. Other information was obtained by mail questionnaires given to the drivers. The results of the surveys carried out in 1981, 1982 and 1983 were reported by McLean et a1 (1984). The surveys carried out in 1987 and 1989 provided evidence that the level of drink driving was affected by the changes in enforcement and the associated publicity at Easter 1987. The overall level of night-time drink-driving declined after Easter 1987 and there was a substantial reduction in the proportion of drivers with a blood alcohol level (BAC) a t or above 0.08g/l00mL (McCaul and McLean, 1990). Similar changes occurred after Easter 1989, when some enhancement of publicity occurred. Also, the lower level of drink-driving observed after Easter in 1987 was maintained to some extent into 1989 (McLean et al, unpublished data). These effects on nighttime drink driving are illustrated in Figure 1. This paper presents an analysis of the information about driver attitudes that was obtained in the 1987 and 1989 roadside surveys.
Conference Name	1990 Conference of Police Personnel Involved in Breath Testing
Conference Location	Perth, Australia
Conference Date	15-17 October 1990
Page Range	202-214
Page Count	13
Notes	available from CASR library on request

Reference

Barker JM, Moore VM (1990). Road Surveys: Driver attitudes to drinking and driving. 1990 Conference of Police Personnel Involved in Breath Testing, (pp. 202-214).