Skip to main content
You can also sort pages by filters.
Table of Contents
Download the Full Book

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 receiveor ✩✩ 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 selectingor ✩✩ 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 forand ✩✩ countermeasures. Further details about theand ✩✩ 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.

 

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.

 

 

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.