Individual Decisions To Drive While Intoxicated - A Micro Based Study of Swedish Drunken Driving Policy

• NCJ Number: 89662
• Author(s): P Shapiro; H L Votey
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 27 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-IJ-CX-0054
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An active enforcement policy with respect to drunk driving should reduce the probability that those apprehended will drink and drive in the future.

Abstract

Data on every arrest for drunken driving in Sweden between 1976 and 1979 showed that the most common age for drunken drivers is 25-55. Although first offenders have higher estimates of the objective probability of being arrested than individuals with one or more prior arrests, a majority of those with prior arrests appear to have revised their estimates of the probability of arrest upward. These individuals appear in the sample of arrestees less frequently than would be predicted by their other characteristics. While jail and fines did not appear to have significant impacts on the probability of subsequent arrest, withdrawals of drivers' licenses appeared to have a significant lagged effect. This lagged effect probably resulted from Sweden's separation of convictions and decisions on license revocations and its use of license withdrawals to promote public safety rather than to sanction drivers. Findings concur with rational choice models which predict that raising the costs to individuals of violating the law will reduce infractions. Findings also support the belief that drunk drivers include two disparate populations, one which is capable of learning and one which persists in ignoring the law and the extent of penalties.