Citation

Beck KH. Health Promot. Pract. 2009; 10(3): 370-377.

Affiliation

University of Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Society for Public Health Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524839906298520

PMID

17895515

Abstract

The evidence concerning Maryland's anti-drunk driving program, Checkpoint Strikeforce, is reviewed. To date, there is no evidence to indicate that this campaign, which involves a number of sobriety checkpoints and media activities to promote these efforts, has had any impact on public perceptions, driver behaviors, or alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and injuries. This conclusion is drawn after examining statistics for alcohol-related crashes, police citations for impaired driving, and public perceptions of alcohol-impaired driving risk. Comparisons are also made with other states in the mid-Atlantic region, where similar campaign activities have occurred. Reasons for this failure in Maryland include insufficient levels of enforcement (e.g., too few sobriety checkpoints and vehicle contacts occurred to raise public perceptions of risk pertaining to impaired driving) and inadequate publicity surrounding this campaign. Suggestions for overcoming these problems are offered.

Language: en