Introduction: Persons who drive after drinking or ride with drinking driver
s are at increased risk of motor vehicle crash. Although alcohol is involve
d in 40% of fatal motor vehicle crashes yearly, there exist few systems to
monitor alcohol-impaired driving. In this study we compare driver- and pass
enger-based estimates of the prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving.
Design: A random-digit-dialing telephone survey of the United States. Parti
cipants were adults aged 18 or older who were English- or Spanish-speaking
from 5238 households (response rate = 56.1%).
Results: From the 4603 respondents who reported driving in the preceding 30
days, we estimate that there were 126 million drinking-driving episodes in
the United States in 1994. From the 4380 passengers in the preceding 30 da
ys, we estimate 191 million episodes. Three percent of respondents self-rep
orted as drinking drivers (4.8% of males and 1.3% of females) and 4.9% as p
assengers of drinking drivers. Drinking drivers were more likely to be pass
engers of drinking drivers (44% versus 4% of nondrinking drivers). Drinking
drivers were also more than twice as likely to report drinking daily, and
only one half as likely to report always wearing their safety belts.
Conclusions: Passengers who report riding with a drinking driver may provid
e an important estimate of the prevalence of drinking driving. Passengers o
f drinking drivers represent a high-risk group that is not considered in mo
st prevention efforts. Because being a passenger of a drinking driver is no
t illegal, it may be an easier topic for clinicians to broach than drinking
and driving. (C) 1999 American Journal of Preventive Medicine.