Identification of Specific Problems and Countermeasures Targets for Reducing Alcohol Related Casualties [1978]

Perchonok, Kenneth · 1978 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This 1978 study, conducted by Kenneth Perchonok for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aimed to identify specific problems associated with drinking drivers to inform targeted countermeasures. While previous research focused on laboratory performance tests or general accident frequencies, this study sought to delineate the specific accident configurations, situational contexts, and driver characteristics that distinguish drinking drivers from nondrinkers. The goal was to move beyond general enforcement strategies by profiling the culpable drinking driver to understand how and why their accidents occur. The research analyzed 7,421 police accident reports sampled to ensure an approximately equal number of alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related incidents. Auxiliary data included 344 telephone interviews and 1,773 driver history records. Drivers were categorized by drinking status: normal (no impairment), HBD (had been drinking but not cited), and DWI (charged with driving while intoxicated). The study focused on the "culpable" driver—the one responsible for initiating the accident sequence. Analyses examined accident types, critical reasons for impact, situational variables (such as road type, lighting, and weather), and driver demographics. Key findings revealed that drinking drivers had extremely high culpability rates, significantly higher than nondrinkers across almost all situational contexts. Drinking drivers were disproportionately involved in "Class R" accidents (running off the road or striking parked vehicles due to lateral tracking errors), which accounted for 42% of their accidents compared to 18% for nondrinkers. These accidents frequently occurred at night, on rural or suburban roads, and involved young male drivers. Conversely, drinking drivers initiated fewer accidents in high-demand situations, such as intersections or complex maneuvers, suggesting a propensity for errors in low-demand, passive driving scenarios. The study also found that drivers with previous alcohol convictions were significantly more likely to be drinking and culpable in subsequent accidents. Interestingly, DWI drivers often exhibited behaviors more similar to nondrinkers than HBD drivers, who displayed higher rates of reckless driving and control failures, implying a more carefree attitude among the latter group. The significance of these findings lies in the identification of specific countermeasure targets. The high incidence of Class R accidents in low-demand situations suggests that engineering solutions, such as improved lane markings or rumble strips, could be effective. The data also supports judicial and licensing interventions, given the strong correlation between prior convictions and future culpable drinking accidents. Furthermore, the distinction between HBD and DWI behaviors implies that psychological factors and perceived risk play a role, suggesting that educational programs should address the false sense of security often held by drivers who have consumed alcohol but are not yet legally intoxicated.

Key finding

Drinkers exhibited extremely high culpability rates and were significantly overrepresented in Class R accidents involving lateral tracking errors and running off the road, particularly in low-demand rural settings at night.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 7421

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
• incidence prevalence
• pre crash contributing factors
• demographic disparities
• alcohol
• urban rural setting

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: crash risk outcomes, observational prevalence