Statewide Implementation of a DUI Law: An Analysis of Effectiveness

• In Event: Smoking, Drinking and Driving: Impacts of New Regulation Policies

Abstract

Between 1991 and 2013, there were 11,100 fatal driving under the influence (DUI) crashes in the state of Pennsylvania. This study examines whether there was a change in fatal DUI crashes after the passage of a 2003 Pennsylvania law that tightened the standards and increased the punishment for DUI. Data came from the U.S. Census and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a national dataset collected by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that includes all crashes involving a vehicle on a traffic way open to the public and at least one fatality. Multivariate analyses of total fatal crashes, fatal DUI crashes, and fatal non-DUI crashes before and after implementation of the 2003 law found a decrease in total fatal crashes per year and fatal DUI crashes per year after the law was implemented. The effects of the law were not uniform across the state: fatal DUIs were lower in rural areas, but higher in urban areas.

Authors

• Kimberly Hodge, Pennsylvania State University

• Lauren Knoth, Pennsylvania State University

• R. Barry Ruback, Pennsylvania State University