Drink driving as a social problem: comparing the attitudes and knowledge of drink driving offenders and the general community

Abstract

Within Queensland, as elsewhere, there appears to be a high level of consensus among the
wider community that drink driving is a serious social problem. This is reflected in both
general attitudes regarding drink driving, together with general levels of knowledge regarding drink-driving issues. However there is reason to believe, both from anecdotal as well as empirical evidence, that the attitudes and knowledge of those apprehended for drink driving may differ from those of the general community. Utilising data from the 'Under the Limit' community survey together with data from a survey of drink-driving offenders, this paper compares the attitudes and knowledge of two matched samples on a number of drink driving issues. The specific issues dealt with include
· Knowledge of safe drinking and BAC levels;
· Attitudes towards strategies for avoiding drink driving; and
· General attitudes regarding drink driving.
The findings illustrate that between the two samples a number of significant differences exist with respect to attitudes and knowledge. Implications for drink driving interventions are discussed.