Citation

Keskinen E, Oksanen A, Laaksonen H. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1981; 1981: 367-370.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

On 1.4.1977 Finland got a new law concerning drinking and driving. The new regulations contain two critical limits of blood alcohol: a lower limit of 0,5% per thousand and an upper limit of 1,5% per thousand, exceeding of which means severe drinking and driving. In this study all drunken drivers (n=1631) during two years in the city of Turku were examined to clarify the most common features of persons committing this type of crime. To evaluate the possible effects of the new critical blood alcohol limits law on the composition of the drunken drivers group the year preceding the new law and the year following it were chosen to be the investigation period. Drinking and driving seems to be a crime of men: only 2% of the material were women. The men involved were quite young, nearly 60% being under 30 years. Most of the drunken drivers were single or divorced and belonged to the social groups 5-7 in a 9-step scale. The amount of drunken drivers was equally distributed throughout the year with a slight increase in the summer. Most drunken drivers were caught during weekends (58%) and between 8 pm and 4 am (66%). Most frequently the drunken drivers were caught during random check-ups made by the police (46%), the next common cause of catching being errors in handling the vehicle. Car accidents produced 18% of all drunken drivers whereas 9% were found upon information given by other persons. Only 2% of all drunken drivers were revealed in specially organized raids. Most of the drunken drivers (47%) did not have any driving licence at all. From 12% of the drunken drivers the licence had earlier been taken away. Possible methods of preventing drinking and driving are discussed on the basis of the results of this study. (TRRL)