Biomedical subjects

R B Voas

Publications and source records attributed to R B Voas.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Underage drivers are separating drinking from driving.

OBJECTIVES: From 1985 to 1995, drivers younger than 21 years experienced a 50% drop in fatal crashes involving alcohol. This study addresses whether the decrease is explained by young drivers' drinking less or by their separating drinking from driving. METHODS: Nighttime roadside surveys were conducted in 3 communities to test drivers' breath and administer questionnaires on drinking practices. From 1992 to 1996, 34,898 drivers (21% of whom were younger than 21 years) were interviewed. RESULTS: Although drivers younger than 21 years were more likely to have consumed 6 or more drinks on at least 1 occasion during the previous month, a smaller percentage of younger drivers than of older drivers had blood alcohol concentrations of 0.01 or higher. CONCLUSIONS: Younger drivers are more likely than drivers older than 21 years to separate drinking from driving.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1998

Drinking and driving in the United States: the 1996 National Roadside Survey.

Following the same general principles of its two predecessors in 1973 and 1986, the 1996 National Roadside Survey of weekend, nighttime drivers in the 48 contiguous states interviewed and breath tested over 6000 noncommercial four-wheel vehicle operators between September 6 and November 9, 1996. Results indicated that the total number of drinking drivers fell by about one-third between 1986 and 1996; however, there was no significant change in the number of drivers at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.05. Compared to 1973, the proportion of women drivers on the roads during weekend nights has increased significantly. Moreover, relative to males, the proportion of female drivers who have been drinking has increased over the last decade. The number of drivers under the age of 21 with a BAC at or above 0.10 decreased significantly from 1986 to 1996.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Alcohol consumption measured at roadside surveys and variations in traffic injury crashes.

This analysis examines whether roadside surveys that measure changes in the prevalence of driving after drinking can be used to evaluate the impact of interventions designed to reduce alcohol-related traffic crashes. Using data collected at a roadside survey over a 4-year period in two California communities (N = 33,614), this analysis examines the relationship of BAC and drinks since 5 P.M., aggregated on a monthly basis, with nighttime injury crash data from the California Highway Patrol aggregated on a monthly basis. A regression analysis was used in which daytime injury and drinking style were covariates. The data demonstrate that temporal changes in drinking and driving collected at a roadside survey reflect temporal changes in nighttime injury rates. Hence, this study substantiates the use of roadside surveys as an appropriate methodology to evaluate drinking and driving interventions.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1998

Temporary vehicle impoundment in Ohio: a replication and confirmation.

Driving while suspended by individuals who have been convicted of an impaired driving offense is a significant highway safety problem. Such offenders present four times the risk of involvement in a fatal crash at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over 0.10. A previous report by the authors demonstrated that a vehicle immobilization program in Franklin County (Columbus), Ohio, significantly reduced driving-under-the-influence (DUI) recidivism rates for multiple DUI offenders. This study evaluated a somewhat different application of the same law in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Ohio, where vehicles were impounded rather than immobilized, and obtained similar results--a reduction in repeat DUI offenses by multiple offenders both while their vehicles were being held by the police and after they were returned to the offenders.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1998

Nighttime observations of safety belt use: an evaluation of California's primary law.

OBJECTIVES: An analysis was conducted to determine what effect California's change to a primary safety belt law had on safety belt use among nighttime weekend drivers. METHODS: Observations of 18,469 drivers in 2 California communities were made during voluntary roadside surveys conducted every other Friday and Saturday night from 9 PM to 2 AM for 4 years. RESULTS: Rates of safety belt use rose from 73.0% to 95.6% (P < .0005). For drivers with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.10 or higher, rates rose from 53.4% to 92.1% (P < .0005). CONCLUSIONS: Because substantial improvement in safety belt use was seen even in a group of high-risk drivers, the injury reduction benefits of this law may be high.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

Evaluation of a method for reducing unlicensed driving: the Washington and Oregon license plate sticker laws.

This report covers an evaluation of programs designed to reduce unlawful driving in the states of Washington and Oregon by providing for the marking of the license plate of a vehicle when its operator was apprehended driving while suspended. In both states, the records of 101,000 drivers convicted of a drunk-driving offense who were potentially at risk for this sanction were analyzed using time series analysis to determine the general deterrent effect of the law. In addition, the specific deterrent effect of having one's vehicle marked was studied in Oregon using analysis of covariance. Results of these analyses indicated that the law had both a general and specific deterrence effect in Oregon but no measurable effect in Washington.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

Temporary vehicle immobilization: evaluation of a program in Ohio.

Driving while suspended is a growing problem in most states. To deal with this problem, a number of jurisdictions are impounding and/or immobilizing the vehicles of driving while suspended or multiple driving under the influence offenders. This study evaluates the first 2 years of the implementation of this type of law in Franklin County (Columbus), OH. Variations in police enforcement and judicial sentencing policies resulted in some offenders, though eligible for impoundment or immobilization, not receiving the sanction. The recidivism rates of these offenders were compared with offenders who did receive a vehicle sanction. Tracking these two groups of offenders for up to 2 years demonstrated that the offenders who received the sanction had lower recidivism rates, both before and after they reclaimed their vehicles.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

Evaluation design for a community prevention trial. An environmental approach to reduce alcohol-involved trauma.

The Community Prevention Trial was 5-year effort to reduce alcohol-involved injuries and death through a comprehensive program of community awareness and policy activities. The three experimental communities were of approximately 100,000 population each (one in Northern California, one in Southern California, and one in South Carolina). Matched comparison communities were used for each experimental community. This article describes the evaluation approach used in a program that sought to change environmental factors not a specific population or target group. This approach demanded unique evaluation approaches for determining overall community aggregate effects, that is, distal outcomes, as well as changes in key mediating variables, that is, process effects. The problem of trending and lagged effects of community prevention programs are discussed.

Accident Prevention↗

PubMed1997

Documenting community-level outcomes. Lessons from drinking and driving.

Alcohol-related crashes cluster on Friday and Saturday evenings. One objective of this study was to contrast the demographic characteristics of operators who drive at these times with those who do not, through the comparison of data from two of the most widely used methods for gathering information on drinking and driving: Random Digit Dialing Telephone Surveys and Roadside Voluntary Breath Test Surveys. Roadside surveys set up at locations where alcohol-related crashes occur provide a better sample of those drivers most at risk of crash involvement. Telephone surveys, because they do not generally measure the exposure of drivers both in the location of driving and the number of miles driven, are less suited to identifying the drivers at risk. However, they highlight the large number of individuals who drive during high-risk times but avoid high-risk locations.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

A community prevention trial to reduce alcohol-involved accidental injury and death: overview.

The 5-year "Preventing Alcohol Trauma: A Community Trial" project in the United States was designed to reduce alcohol-involved injuries and death in three experimental communities. The project consisted of five mutually reinforcing components: (1) Community Mobilization Component to develop community organization and support, (2) Responsible Beverage Service Component to establish standards for servers and owner/managers of on-premise alcohol outlets to reduce their risk of having intoxicated and/or underage customers in bars and restaurants, (3) Drinking and Driving Component to increase local DWI enforcement efficiency and to increase the actual and perceived risk that drinking drivers would be detected, (4) Underage Drinking Component to reduce retail availability of alcohol to minors, and (5) Alcohol Access Component to use local zoning powers and other municipal controls of outlet number and density to reduce the availability of alcohol. This paper gives an overview of the rationale and causal model, the research design and outline of each intervention component for the entire prevention trial.

Accident Prevention↗

PubMed1997

Drinking and driving prevention in the community: program planning and implementation.

This paper describes the rationale, development and implementation of the Drinking and Driving Component, which is one of five components of the Community Trials Project conducted by the Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, California (USA). It traces the background of drunk driving enforcement technology and practice against which the programs at the three sites were implemented. A conceptual model for the enforcement component of a comprehensive community alcohol-related trauma project is presented and its implementation at the three sites is described. Limitations in the available police department resources delayed the implementation of local programs. Media advocacy tied to specific operations proved to be successful in publicizing sensors and sobriety checkpoints were only partially accepted. Overall, the community trials sites increased or held steady their arrest rates in contrast to the comparison sites where DUI arrests declined.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

The effect of drinking and driving interventions on alcohol-involved traffic crashes within a comprehensive community trial.

The Drinking and Driving Component, one of five elements of the Community Trials Project, involved the implementation of a special drink driving countermeasure in the three experimental communities, one in Northern California, one in Southern California and another in South Carolina. This intensified enforcement of driving under the influence (DUI) was designed to deter potential drinking drivers by increasing their perception of the risk of being arrested leading to a reduction in the consumption of alcohol before driving. See component detailed description in Voas (1997, this issue). The evaluation found that media advocacy training and technical assistance resulted in increased DUI news coverage and that additional police officer hours for DUI enforcement, greater use of breathalyzer equipment, increased officer training and more checkpoints produced increased DUI enforcement. The combined effects of increased DUI news coverage and DUI enforcement yielded increased public perceived risk of arrest and subsequently less drinking and driving. Overall the evaluation found that alcohol-involved traffic crashes were reduced as a result of this component in the experimental communities as contrasted with the matched comparison communities.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

Summing up: lessons from a comprehensive community prevention trial.

This paper presents the findings and lessons from a community prevention trial involving three experimental communities in the United States to reduce alcohol-involved trauma. The paper provides recommendations for other community prevention efforts. Effectiveness was demonstrated by: (a) 78 fewer alcohol-involved traffic crashes as a result of the Drinking and Driving Component alone (approximately a 10% reduction); (b) a significant reduction in underage sales of alcohol, i.e. off-premise outlets sold to minors about one-half as often as in comparison communities; (c) increased implementation of responsible beverage service policies by bars and restaurants; and (d) increased adoption of local ordinances and regulations to reduce concentrations of alcohol outlets.

Accident Prevention↗

PubMed1996

Predicting underage drinking and driving behaviors.

A social-psychological model of underage drinking and driving (DUI) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD) was tested with data from a random digit dial telephone survey of 706 16-20-year-old drivers from seven western states in the United States. Consistent with the model, a structural equations analysis indicated that DUI and RWDD were primarily predicted by (a) expectancies regarding the physical risks of DUI, (b) normative beliefs about the extent to which friends would disapprove of DUI, (c) control beliefs about the ease or difficulty of avoiding DUI and RWDD and (d) drinking. Expectancies concerning enforcement had a significant effect on RWDD, but not on DUI. Among the background and environmental variables included in the analysis, only night-time driving and age had significant direct effects on DUI and RWDD. Drinking and involvement in risky driving had indirect effects on DUI and RWDD that were mediated through expectancies and normative beliefs. Males, European Americans, Latinos, respondents who drove more frequently and respondents who were less educated held beliefs that were more favorable toward DUI and RWDD, drank more and engaged more frequently in risky driving. As a result, such individuals may be at greater risk for DUI and RWDD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Issues in cross-national comparisons of crash data.

While national accident record systems appear to provide an attractive method of comparing the effectiveness of traffic safety programs, differences in definitions, data collection methods and file structure may lead to misleading conclusions. Variations in crash definitions and methods for measuring alcohol involvement are described and illustrated with data from US crash files. Examples of international comparisons are provided.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1993

Using a passive alcohol sensor to detect legally intoxicated drivers.

OBJECTIVES: We examined whether a passive alcohol sensor could be used for mass screening of motorists to accurately and quickly detect drivers whose blood alcohol concentration exceeded a variety of levels often established as per se evidence of legal intoxication. METHODS: In a voluntary roadside survey, 1181 late-night drivers in Minnesota were interviewed. Breath measurements were taken with both a passive alcohol sensor and an evidentiary quality portable breath-test device. RESULTS: Measurements could be taken much more easily and quickly with the passive sensor, whose readings correlated very strongly (r = .87) with the evidentiary device. Moreover, for criterion blood alcohol concentration levels ranging from 100 mg/dL to 20 mg/dL, a large proportion of motorists could be accurately identified as being above or below the criterion, with relatively few false-negative or false-positive identifications. CONCLUSIONS: The use of passive alcohol sensors at sobriety checkpoints should allow motorists to be processed very quickly with minimal inconvenience. At the same time, detection of legally intoxicated motorists will probably be substantially increased and the general deterrent value of per se alcohol-impaired driving laws enhanced.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1990

Performance comparison of a neural network with human observers on a visual target detection task.

An experiment is described which compares the performance of a neural network to human performance on a visual task which consists of detecting a target in a background image of correlated noise. A three-layer, feed-forward, multi-layer perceptron is trained to indicate the presence or absence of a target in images also presented to human observers. The basis for the comparison between the network and the human observers is the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Network performance is comparable to human performance for this particular task.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMed1987

Deterring the drinking driver: the Stockton experience.

The effectiveness of drunk driving enforcement patrols is generally assumed. However, few adequate evaluations are available in the traffic safety literature. The U.S. Department of Transportation funded a special program in Stockton, a city with a population of 120,000 in the central valley of California, to test the effectiveness of special drunk driving patrols on weekend evenings, applied within a setting in which no other major alcohol safety programs were present. The objective of this effort was to determine the effectiveness of a "traditional" approach to enforcing driving while impaired (DWI) laws; one in which innovative procedures such as sobriety checkpoints were not used. The results indicated that nighttime collisions in Stockton were reduced during the three and a half year period of the special enforcement program.

Accidents, Traffic↗