Citation

DeJong W, Winsten JA. J. Am. Coll. Health 1999; 47(4): 151-156.

Affiliation

Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Comment In:

J Am Coll Health 1999;47(4):147-50.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07448489909595640

PMID

9919845

Abstract

A representative national sample of students attending 4-year colleges in the United States reported whether they had served as or had ridden with a designated driver in the past 30 days and how much alcohol they had consumed the last time they used this prevention strategy. Among drinkers (those who had consumed alcohol in the past year), 36% said they had served as a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 40% said they usually binged when they drank but had not done so the last time they served as the designated driver, with the vast majority either abstaining or having 1 drink. Among drinkers, 37% reported riding with a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 22% said they did not usually binge but did so the last time they had a designated driver because they had had 1 or more extra drinks. Among college students, using designated drivers is now a well-established strategy for avoiding impaired driving.

Language: en