National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behaviors: 2008: Volume 1: Summary Report

Drew, Lisa; Royal, Dawn; Moulton, Benjamin; Peterson, Anne; Haddix, Dar · 2010 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This report presents the findings of the 2008 National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behaviors, the eighth in a series conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The study aims to assess current public attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported behaviors regarding drinking and driving, as well as to track trends since 1993. The survey was administered via telephone to a randomly selected sample of 6,999 individuals aged 16 and older between September and December 2008, with oversampling of young adults. The results indicate that 20% of the driving-age public reported driving within two hours of consuming alcohol in the past year, a figure largely unchanged from previous survey years. Approximately two-thirds of these individuals engaged in this behavior in the past 30 days, resulting in an estimated 85.5 million drinking-driving trips nationally. Males accounted for 78% of these trips despite comprising only 48% of the population. Thirty percent of drinking-drivers reported driving when they believed they were over the legal alcohol limit. Conversely, 81% of the public viewed drinking and driving as a major safety threat. Regarding prevention, 44% of drivers had acted as a designated driver in the past year, and 33% had ridden with one. Among those who avoided driving after drinking, the most common strategies were using a designated driver (28%) or riding with another driver at the location (26%). Public knowledge and attitudes revealed that 71% were aware of the national minimum drinking age, with 86% of those correctly identifying it as 21. However, respondents underestimated the alcohol required to reach the legal limit; 31% of males and 40% of females believed it would take four or more beers, respectively, to reach a 0.08 BAC. Enforcement perceptions showed that only 1% of the population had been arrested for a drinking-driving violation in the past two years, though 66% supported more severe penalties. Thirty percent had seen a sobriety checkpoint in the past year, and 75% favored weekly or monthly checkpoints. The study concludes that while awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving remains high, the prevalence of the behavior has remained stagnant over the past decade. Alcohol interlocks were rated as the most effective intervention strategy (63%), followed by alternative transportation options and license suspension (54% each). The data suggest that despite strong public condemnation of the behavior and support for stricter penalties, self-reported drinking and driving persists at consistent levels, highlighting a gap between attitude and behavior.

Key finding

Twenty percent of the driving-age public reported driving within two hours of drinking alcohol in the past year, with males aged 21 to 24 being the most likely demographic to ride with an impaired driver.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 6999

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• sex gender
• dui enforcement
• alcohol

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence