Citation

Vingilis ER, Chung L, Adlaf EM. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1981; 1981: 1259-1270.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

"RIDE" (Reduce Impaired Driving in Etobicoke) was a counter-measure programme that was conducted in Etobicoke, one of five Toronto police districts. The programme has been based on the concept of general deterrence and involved two components, enforcement (by means of random spot-checks and roadside breath-testing that was aimed at increasing subjective and objective probabilities of risk apprehension) and education. The evaluation of R.I.D.E. has followed the causal chain approach of Hall and O'Day consisting of: (1) enforcement and education; (2) increased public awareness and knowledge; (3) increased risk perception; (4) decreased drinking-driving behaviour; and (5) reduced alcohol-related accidents. A three-wave telephone survey showed significant increases in the experimental area when compared to the control area for public knowledge of drinking and driving, R.I.D.E. and for subjective perception of arrest risk. Unfortunately, only indirect evidence was available on driver behaviour and this tended to indicate fewer impaired drivers on the road for the experimental area only. Finally, police reported alcohol-related accidents and injuries indicated general overall downward trends for the experimental and control areas, but the urban nature and restricted size of the experiment's geographic unit, and contaminations to the data rendered the analysis somewhat ambiguous. Thus the programme experienced some positive although by no means conclusive indicators of success. (Author/TRRL)