Citation

Lebel A. Abstr. Alcohol Driving 1980; (9).

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, UCLA Alcohol Research Center and UCLA Brain Information Service)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

DUI (driving under the influence) educational countermeasures are part of a recent history (beginning in 1966 with the DWI (driving while intoxicated)-Phoenix Course) which is still evolving. Efforts to evaluate the impact of these countermeasures over time have been complicated by a range of changing circumstance within and external to the alcohol and traffic safety control system. The findings of large-scale studies remain contradictory and largely inconclusive. As often happens when education is perceived as a panacea, extravagant hopes to "cure" DUI behavior were initially raised too high. The development of a systems approach (such as the Alcohol Safety Action Project concept) has placed educational countermeasures in a more realistic perspective as part of a complex network engaged in a coordinated effort to reduce highway accidents. DUI countermeasures can also play a small but vital role in consensus building, essential to the development of support for responsible drinking and driving. Program accountability and self-monitoring through evaluation can help to assure the continued effectiveness of these countermeasures.