Methodological Considerations in Conducting and Evaluating Roadside Research Surveys

Perrine, M. W. · 1971 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This 1971 report by M.W. Perrine, prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, provides a comprehensive methodological guide for conducting roadside research surveys to study alcohol involvement in highway crashes. The research was motivated by the need to understand the "population-at-risk" to evaluate the prevalence of alcohol impairment among drivers, as studying only crash-involved individuals does not provide a baseline for comparison. Since replicating severe crashes for research is morally impossible and systematic observation of rare crash events is logistically unfeasible, roadside surveys were identified as the most effective method for obtaining valid data on driving behaviors and blood alcohol concentrations (BAC). The document details the operational procedures developed through Project ABETS at the University of Vermont, which conducted 200 roadside surveys involving approximately 1,200 motorists. The methodology emphasizes rigorous planning, including securing high-level political and legal approval to ensure driver immunity from prosecution, thereby distinguishing the research from law enforcement activities. Key logistical considerations include selecting interview vehicles that minimize the appearance of official enforcement (e.g., avoiding police cruisers), choosing appropriate breath-testing equipment that balances accuracy with legal admissibility, and establishing clear protocols for site selection based on previous crash data. Personnel selection focuses on recruiting interviewers who can establish rapid rapport with apprehensive or resistant drivers, while coordinators manage liaison duties with police and media. The report outlines specific protocols for conducting the surveys, including scheduling algorithms to approximate the time of previous crashes and procedures for handling alcohol-impaired drivers discovered during the research. It stresses the importance of data security, privacy, and quality control throughout collection, processing, and storage. The findings highlight that successful surveys require balancing the competing needs of motorists, police, researchers, and administrators. The significance of this work lies in its provision of a standardized framework for collecting baseline data necessary for evaluating traffic safety countermeasures. By establishing reliable methods for measuring alcohol prevalence in the general driving population, the report enables researchers to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related highway fatalities.

Key finding

The document serves as a methodological guide for conducting roadside research surveys rather than presenting new empirical results.

Methodology

review

Provenance

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

Topics

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• causation analyses

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
• Methodological Resource: measurement protocol