Countermeasures
The first six sections address alcohol-impaired driving and the last section deals specifically with drug-impaired driving. Countermeasures to reduce alcohol- and drug-impaired driving are listed in the table below, providing a rough estimate of each countermeasure’s effectiveness, use, cost, and time required for implementation. Effectiveness is shown using a five-star rating system.
- Countermeasures that receive or have been determined to be effective.
- Countermeasures that receive are considered promising, and likely to be effective.
- Countermeasures that receive ✩ or ✩✩ have NOT been determined to be effective, either because there has been limited or no high-quality evidence (✩) or because effectiveness is still undetermined based on the available evidence (✩✩).
States, communities, and other organizations are encouraged to use and especially or countermeasures. They should use caution in selecting ✩ or ✩✩ countermeasures, as conclusive evidence is not available to demonstrate the effectiveness of these countermeasures. If they decide to use a new or emerging countermeasure that has not yet been studied sufficiently to demonstrate that the countermeasure is effective, they are encouraged to evaluate the countermeasure.
Further details about the symbols and terms used are included after the table. Effectiveness, cost, and time to implement can vary substantially from State to State and community to community. Costs for many countermeasures are difficult to measure, so the summary terms are very approximate.
Each countermeasure to reduce alcohol- and drug-impaired driving is discussed individually. Full descriptions are included for , , and countermeasures. Brief descriptions are included for ✩ and ✩✩ countermeasures. Further details about the ✩ and ✩✩ countermeasures are included in Appendix A1.
1. Deterrence: Laws
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1.1 Administrative License Revocation or Suspension (ALR/ALS) |
|
$$$ |
High |
Medium |
1.2 Open Container |
|
$ |
High |
Short |
1.3 High-BAC Sanctions |
|
$ |
Medium |
Short |
1.4 BAC Test Refusal Penalties |
|
$ |
Unknown |
Short |
1.5 Alcohol-Impaired Driving Law Review |
✩✩ |
$$ |
Unknown |
Medium |
2. Deterrence: Enforcement
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.1 Publicized Sobriety Checkpoints |
|
$$$ |
Medium |
Short |
2.2 High-Visibility Saturation Patrols |
|
$$ |
High |
Short |
2.3 Preliminary Breath Test Devices† |
|
$$ |
High |
Short |
2.4 Passive Alcohol Sensors†† |
|
$$ |
Unknown |
Short |
2.5 Integrated Enforcement |
|
$ |
Unknown |
Short |
† Proven for increasing arrests
†† Proven for detecting impaired drivers
3. Deterrence: Prosecution and Adjudication
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
3.1 DWI Courts† |
|
$$$ |
Low |
Medium |
3.2 Limits on Diversion & Plea Agreements†† |
|
$ |
Medium |
Short |
3.3 Court Monitoring†† |
|
$ |
Low |
Short |
3.4 Sanctions |
✩✩ |
Varies |
Varies |
Varies |
† Proven for reducing recidivism
†† Proven for increasing conviction
4. Deterrence: DWI Offender Treatment, Monitoring, and Control
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
4.1 Alcohol Problem Assessment and Treatment |
|
Varies |
High |
Varies |
4.2 Alcohol Ignition Interlocks† |
|
$$ |
Medium |
Medium |
4.3 Vehicle and License Plate Sanctions† |
|
Varies |
Medium |
Medium |
4.4 DWI Offender Monitoring† |
|
$$$ |
Unknown |
Varies |
4.5 Lower BAC Limit for Repeat Offenders |
|
$ |
Low |
Short |
† Proven for reducing recidivism
5. Prevention, Intervention, Communications and Outreach
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
5.1 Alcohol Screening and Brief intervention |
|
$$ |
Medium |
Short |
5.2 Mass-Media Campaigns |
|
$$$ |
High |
Medium |
5.3 Responsible Beverage Service |
✩✩ |
$$ |
Medium |
Medium |
5.4 Alternative Transportation |
|
$$ |
Unknown |
Short |
5.5 Designated Drivers |
✩✩ |
$ |
Medium |
Short |
6. Underage Drinking and Drinking and Driving
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
6.1 Minimum Drinking Age 21 Laws |
|
$$$ |
High |
Low |
6.2 Zero-Tolerance Law Enforcement |
|
$ |
Unknown |
Short |
6.3 Alcohol Vendor Compliance Checks† |
|
$$ |
Unknown |
Short |
6.4 Other Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 Law Enforcement |
|
$$ |
Varies |
Varies |
6.5 Youth Programs |
✩✩ |
Varies |
High |
Medium |
† Proven for reducing sales to underage people
7. Drug-Impaired Driving
Countermeasure |
Effectiveness |
Cost |
Use |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
7.1 Enforcement of Drug-Impaired Driving |
|
$$ |
Unknown |
Short |
7.2 Drug-Impaired-Driving Laws |
✩ |
Unknown |
Medium† |
Short |
7.3 Education Regarding Medication |
✩ |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Long |
† Use for drug per se laws
Effectiveness: |
|||
|
Demonstrated to be effective by several high-quality evaluations with consistent results |
||
|
Demonstrated to be effective in certain situations |
||
|
Likely to be effective based on balance of evidence from high-quality evaluations or other sources |
||
✩✩ |
Effectiveness still undetermined; different methods of implementing this countermeasure produce different results |
||
✩ |
Limited or no high-quality evaluation evidence |
||
|
|
||
Effectiveness is measured by reductions in crashes or injuries unless noted otherwise.
See individual countermeasure descriptions for information on effectiveness size and how effectiveness is measured. |
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Cost to implement: |
|||
$$$ |
Requires extensive new facilities, staff, equipment, or publicity, or makes heavy demands on current resources |
||
$$ |
Requires some additional staff time, equipment, facilities, and/or publicity |
||
$ |
Can be implemented with current staff, perhaps with training; limited costs for equipment or facilities |
||
|
|
||
These estimates do not include the costs of enacting legislation or establishing policies. |
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|
|
||
Use: |
|||
High |
More than two-thirds of the States, or a substantial majority of communities |
||
Medium |
One-third to two-thirds of States or communities |
||
Low |
Less than one-third of the States or communities |
||
Unknown |
Data not available |
||
|
|
||
Time to implement: |
|||
Long |
More than 1 year |
||
Medium |
More than 3 months but less than 1 year |
||
Short |
3 months or less |
||
|
|
||
These estimates do not include the time required to enact legislation or establish policies. |