National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behaviors [2008] [Traffic Tech]
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Summary
This report summarizes the findings of the 2008 National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behaviors, conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The study aims to monitor public attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported behaviors regarding drinking and driving. Data were collected via telephone interviews between September and December 2008 from 6,999 respondents aged 16 and older, including 5,392 landline and 1,607 cell phone users. The sample over-sampled teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 24 to ensure adequate representation of this demographic. The survey revealed that 20% of the population aged 16 and older drove within two hours of drinking alcohol in the past year, with 13% doing so in the past 30 days. This behavior accounted for an estimated 85.5 million drinking-driving trips in the past month, a significant increase from 73.7 million in 2004 and reversing a declining trend observed since 1995. Males constituted 78% of these trips. Drinking drivers were more frequent drinkers than those who drank but did not drive; 28% consumed alcohol three or more days a week. Young drinking drivers (16–20 years) averaged 5.7 drinks per sitting, while those aged 21–24 averaged 4.2. Problem drinkers, comprising 22% of past-month drinking drivers, accounted for 36% of all such trips and were nearly twice as likely to report driving while believing they were over the legal alcohol limit. Regarding safety perceptions and enforcement, 81% of respondents viewed drinking and driving as a major threat to personal and family safety. However, misconceptions persisted: 40% of drivers who drink believed it was safe to consume three drinks in two hours before driving. Eight percent of the population reported riding with a driver they believed had consumed too much alcohol in the past year, with young adult males at the highest risk. In crashes involving injury, 32% of respondents reported alcohol involvement, compared to only 5% in non-injury crashes. Public support for enforcement was strong; 63% rated alcohol interlocks as very effective, and most favored weekly or monthly sobriety checkpoints. Additionally, 71% correctly identified the national minimum drinking age as 21, and 40% believed penalties for drinking and driving violations should be much more severe.
Key finding
An estimated 85.5 million past-month drinking-driving trips occurred in 2008, up from 73.7 million in 2004 and reversing a decline since 1995, with 78 percent made by males.
Methodology
survey
Sample size: 6999
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
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| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | partial | — | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified_with_issues.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence