Working in tandem: The contribution of remedial programs and roadside licence suspensions to drinking and driving deterrence in Ontario

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention Vol. 85; pp. 248 - 256
• Main Authors: Ma, Tracey, Byrne, Patrick A., Haya, Maryam, Elzohairy, Yoassry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alcohol Drinking - prevention & control; Automobile Driving - standards; Automobile Driving - statistics & numerical data; Cohort Studies; Countermeasure; Deterrence; Drinking; Driving; Driving Under the Influence - prevention & control; Driving Under the Influence - statistics & numerical data; Evaluation; Female; Forensic engineering; Humans; Impaired driving; Incidence; Interrupted Time Series Analysis; Licence suspension; Licensure - standards; Male; Middle Aged; Ontario; Reduction; Regression; Regression analysis; Remedial measures; Roadsides; Safety Management - standards; Young Adult; Ontario; Licence suspension; Evaluation; Countermeasure; Impaired driving; Deterrence; Remedial measures
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2015.09.017

•Drinking and driving, which is 100% preventable, continues to be a leading contributor to motor vehicle collision fatalities.•A remedial alcohol program, along with licence suspension, were evaluated for their effect on drinking and driving deterrence in Ontario.•Both programs were associated with a reduction in drinking and driving recidivism independent of pre-existing trends; however, their individual contributions cannot be completely disentangled.•Overall there is strong evidence that remedial alcohol education/treatment programs in combination with licence sanctions can improve road safety. In 1998, Ontario implemented a remedial program called “Back On Track” (BOT) for individuals convicted of alcohol-impaired driving. Drivers convicted before October 2000 were exposed to a single-component program (“Edu BOT”); those convicted after participated in a multi-component program (“Full BOT”). We evaluated the impact of BOT, and the preceding 90-day roadside licence suspension, on drinking and driving recidivism, an outcome yet to be examined, using population-wide driver records. A Chi Square Test was used to compare the three-year cumulative incidence of recidivism between three historically-defined cohorts: No BOT, Edu BOT, and Full BOT. Stratified analyses by completion status and by age were also conducted. Analyses of the roadside suspension were conducted using an interrupted time series approach based on segmented Poisson/negative binomial regression. The roadside suspension was associated with a 65.2% reduction in drinking driving recidivism. In combination with indefinite suspensions for non-completion, the BOT program was also associated with a 21% decrease in drinking and driving recidivism in the three years following a CCC driving prohibition, from 8.5% to 6.7%. This reduction cannot be explained by pre-existing trends in recidivism. Conversion of the BOT program from the single-component version to the multi-component program further reduced the three-year cumulative incidence of recidivism to 5.5% (a total reduction of 35% from pre-BOT). Results provide strong converging evidence that remedial alcohol education/treatment programs in combination with other sanctions can produce substantial increases in road safety.