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Traffic Injury Prevention

ISSN: 1538-9588 (Print) 1538-957X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gcpi20

Factors associated with driving under the


influence of alcohol

Emir Smailović, Krsto Lipovac, Dalibor Pešić & Boris Antić

To cite this article: Emir Smailović, Krsto Lipovac, Dalibor Pešić & Boris Antić (2019) Factors
associated with driving under the influence of alcohol, Traffic Injury Prevention, 20:4, 343-347, DOI:
10.1080/15389588.2019.1605168

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2019.1605168

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Published online: 21 May 2019.

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TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION
2019, VOL. 20, NO. 4, 343–347
https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2019.1605168

Factors associated with driving under the influence of alcohol


Emir Smailovic , Krsto Lipovac , Dalibor Pesic, and Boris Antic
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY


Objective: This study examined the risk factors of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) Received 3 December 2018
among drivers of specific vehicle categories (DSC). On the basis of this research, the variables Accepted 1 April 2019
related to DUI and involvement in traffic crashes were defined. The analysis was conducted for car
KEYWORDS
drivers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, bus drivers, and truck drivers.
Driving under the influence;
Method: The research sample included drivers involved in traffic crashes on the territory of Serbia in risk factors; drivers of
2016 (60,666). Two types of analyses were conducted in this study. Logistic regression established specific vehicle category;
the correlation between DUI and DSC and the The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity logistic regression; TOPSIS
to Ideal Solution (Multi-criteria decision making) method was applied to consider the scoring and
explore the potential for the prevalence of DUI on the basis of 2 data sets (DUI and non DUI).
Results: The study results showed that driver error and male drivers were the 2 most significant
risk factors for DUI, with the highest scores and potential for prevalence. The nonuse of restraint
systems, driver experience, and driver age are the factors with a significant prediction of involve-
ment in an accident and an insignificant prediction of DUI.
Conclusions: Following the development of the logistic prediction models for DUI drivers, testing
of the model was conducted for 3 control driver groups: Car, motorcycle, and bicycle. The predic-
tion model with a probability greater than 50% showed that 77% of car drivers were under the
influence of alcohol. Similarly, the prediction percentage for motorcyclists and bicyclists amounted
to 71 and 67%, respectively. The recommendation of the study is that drivers whose DUI probabil-
ity is above 50% should be potentially suspected of DUI. The results of this study can help to
understand the problem of DUI among specific driver categories and detect DUI drivers, with the
aim of creating successful traffic safety policy.

Introduction of alcohol in a driver’s breath, the time needed for a reac-


tion is decreased by 0.3%. For details about the background
The occurrence of traffic accidents is connected to speed or
and factors associated with driving under the influence
driving under the influence of alcohol, whereas the risk of
(DUI) see Appendix A (online supplement).
injuries is connected to the use of seat belts (World Health
In this study, the risk factors related to involvement in
Organization 2004). Alcohol consumption is undoubtedly
traffic crashes are separately analyzed depending on the
connected to the occurrence of traffic accidents (Mann et al.
driver category. Namely, the actions against DUI prevalence
2010), and it has negative effects on drivers’ capabilities in
should involve all drivers. The actions directed at one driver
terms of attention, tracking, reaction time, information
processing, perception, psychomotor skills, visual function, category (e.g., car drivers) will not have an effect on other
and increased risk-taking (Ogden and Moskowitz 2004; driver categories. The research has shown that drivers of dif-
Penning et al. 2010). ferent categories have a different risk of being involved in
Numerous studies have shown that the presence of alco- traffic crashes and DUI. Thus, because of their number, car
hol in blood exponentially increases the risk of collision drivers have the highest share of involvement in traffic
(Asbridge et al. 2004; Compton and Bering 2015; Mann crashes. On the other hand, bicyclists have a lower share of
et al. 2001, 2010). A driver’s performance under the influ- involvement in crashes but suffer more severe consequences.
ence of alcohol is lower compared to the performance of Zero alcohol tolerance for commercial drivers, which has
sober drivers. In their research, Li et al. (2016) examined been implemented in a few countries of Europe, is due to
this by testing 52 Chinese drivers in a simulator, where it the consequences of DUI truck vehicles. This is why there is
was shown that the drivers’ performance, such as reaction a need to study risk factors of being involved in traffic
time and lateral position on the track, was highly correlated crashes and DUI for different driver categories, as well as
with consumption of alcohol. With an increase of one unit for the whole population of drivers.

CONTACT Emir Smailovic e.smailovic@sf.bg.ac.rs Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Department for Traffic Safety and Road Vehicles, Vojvode
Stepe 305, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
Associate Editor Kathy Stewart oversaw the review of this article.
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.
ß 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
344  ET AL.
E. SMAILOVIC

All drivers of specific vehicle categories (DSC) are inclined largest number of variables should be included in order to
to DUI. The initial hypothesis is that commercial drivers are examine the effect of individual variables. Reviewing the lit-
involved in alcohol-related traffic crashes less frequently, so dif- erature, we found a few variables related to DUI and
ferent risk factors are expected than for car drivers, bicyclists, involvement in traffic crashes. Variables such as gender, age,
and motorcyclists. For the efficient decrease in DUI prevalence, and driver experience have been proven more than once,
the importance and potential of factors for all driver groups but their potential for prevention is less well known. In add-
have to be determined. The contribution of the study is defin- ition, data availability and reliability represent limitations for
ing the risk factors for each driver category individually and the realization of such a study. Rejecting unclear and
determining the priority of the prevalence of DUI for the unknown variables collected in the research on traffic
whole population of drivers. Engaging significant resources crashes, we systematized the selection of the variables exam-
(human and financial) in order to effect a certain factor will ined in this study into the following 8 factors:
not lead to satisfactory results if the factor’s potential is limited.
The aim of this study is to examine the potential of the preva-  Age (number of years)
lence factor in order to direct the activities in an optimal man-  Gender (male or female)
ner. The prevalence potential was observed on the basis of  Use of restraint systems (seat belt or helmet)
drivers’ involvement in DUI crashes and non-DUI crashes.  Driver experience (number of years between obtaining a
The analysis of risk factors for DSC was carried out in order driver’s license and involvement in a traffic crash; not
to establish the potential for prevalence and drivers of specific including bicyclists)
vehicle category, applying 5 different logistic models. The score  Trip/journey purpose (mandatory or nonmandatory)
and potential for the prevalence of risk factors was obtained  Drivers of specific vehicle categories
using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to  Responsibility for the crash: Driver; driver of the other
Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for DUI crashes and non-DUI crashes. vehicle or other
 Area of the crash (urban or rural).
Methods
Involvement in a traffic crash represents a combination
This study is based on the factors associated with DUI of a number of risk factors, such as exposure, speeding, lack
among drivers involved in road traffic crashes in Serbia in of attention, mistakes, alcohol consumption, and others.
2016. For each driver involved in a traffic crash in Serbia, Alcohol, as one of the influential factors, was isolated in this
the data are recorded in the National Traffic Accident research and its impact was studied. Exposure was not the
Database (see Appendix B, online supplement). The database subject of the research; it was studied indirectly through the
contains data on drivers involved in traffic crashes and correlation between exposure and involvement in traffic
details of the crash. The national database includes the data crashes. In addition to exposure, factors such as speed, alco-
obtained from the official police investigation of the traffic hol consumption and lack of attention are correlated with
crash conducted immediately following the crash. involvement in traffic crashes. The study considered the
The study is based on all drivers involved in traffic drivers involved in traffic crashes, which involves all of the
crashes in Serbia in 2016. Fatally injury drivers, injured driv- mentioned impacts, and alcohol was isolated and dealt with
ers, and drivers without injuries were the subjects of this separately in this study.
study. Frivers without injuries were included in this study For car, bus, and truck drivers, the variable use of
because a large number of these drivers were under the restraint systems implies the use of seat belts, whereas for
influence of alcohol. Namely, out of 60,666 drivers involved bicyclists and motorcyclists the variable suggests the use of
in crashes, about 10% were DUI, and about 8% of DUI driv- helmets. It should be underlined that there is no legal obli-
ers had no injuries (see Appendix B). In other words, 4 out gation for bicyclists to use a helmet in Serbia, whereas
of 5 of DUI drivers had no injuries. motorcyclists are obliged to use one.
Two types of analyses were conducted in this study. The variable driver experience implies the number of
Binary logistic regression established the correlation between years between obtaining a driver’s license and the driver’s
DSC and DUI. Logistic regression was applied to analyze involvement in a traffic crash (i.e., 2016).
the association between DUI and risk factors using 5 logistic Examining previous studies, it was noticed that the pur-
models: car drivers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, bus drivers, and pose of the journey was correlated with involvement in traf-
truck drivers. Each of these models represents DSC. Using fic crashes (Soltani et al. 2016). The variable journey purpose
the TOPSIS method, we obtained the score of the risk fac- was divided into only 2 categories, according to previous
tors for DUI and the potential for prevalence. For the details research by Soltani et al. (2016). The mandatory category
about the logistic regression and TOPSIS method, see implies going to and from work, going to and from school,
Appendix C (see online supplement). and driving as part of one’s job, whereas a nonmandatory
purpose indicates driving during free time/for fun, driving
for the sake of driving, and driving during holidays.
Variables
This study analyzes commercial drivers (bus drivers and
The need for the comprehensive analysis of DUI drivers of truck drivers) because DUI among this group differs signifi-
different vehicle categories in traffic crashes means that the cantly from that among other drivers. Commercial drivers
TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION 345

Table 1. Sample description of DUI and non-DUI crashes.


Car driversa Bicyclistsb Motorcyclistsb Bus driversa Truck driversb
Positive (>0.00 mg/L) (%) 10.5 14.8 13.6 1.5 4.7
Age (mean) (years) 41.7/41.7 47.2/45.6 37.5/35.7 41.8/43.3 43.8/39.8
Driver experience (mean)c (years) 17.6/18.9 — 12.5/9.6 15.1/15.1 20.3/16.9
Gender Female (%) 6.3/17.4 7.1/25.9 1.4/1.6 8.3/0.4 1.3/3.0
Male (%) 93.7/82.6 92.9/74.1 98.6/98.4 91.7/99.6 98.7/97.0
Nonuse of restraint system,a,b (%) 5.4/2.0 96.4/84.1 21.4/9.9 16.7/5.2 2.6/1.6
Area Rural (%) 18.0/17.3 7.1/6.9 17.1/15.4 16.7/12.5 35.3/28.1
Urban (%) 82.0/82.7 92.9/93.1 82.9/84.6 83.3/87.5 64.7/71.9
Nonmandatory journey (%) 63.4/48.1 64.3/64.6 74.3/65.0 8.3/0.2 9.6/2.6
Driver responsibility (mistakes) (%) 86.8/53.3 71.4/46.6 77.1/45.9 66.7/37.6 81.4/57.7
a
Seat belt.
b
Helmet.
c
Not including bicyclists.

have a lower motivation to drive under the influence of Logistic regression


alcohol because they are afraid of losing their jobs (Park
Five models of logistic regression are presented in Appendix
et al. 2017). This is why the results of this study are import-
F (see online supplement). Model 1 includes car drivers,
ant for linking DUI and commercial drivers. The initial
where all variables, with the exception of age, are statistically
hypothesis is that commercial drivers are involved in traffic
significant (Wald’s chi-square; P < .05, P < .01, P < .001).
crashes under the influence of alcohol to a lesser degree.
Male drivers have greater odds for DUI (odds ratio
The variable responsibility for the crash implies a driver’s
[OR] ¼ 3.623). Model 1 shows that the probability of DUI
mistakes that caused the traffic crash. The driver’s responsi-
for car drivers decreases by 0.5% with a 1-year increase in
bility for the crash represents the driver’s mistake that, in
the driver age. The odds for DUI are 1.8 times greater on
accordance with the police investigation, represents the
nonmandatory journeys. A driver has around a 6 times
cause of the crash and, as such, is registered by a police offi- greater odds of making a mistake if he or she is DUI (OR
cer. These mistakes include driving without the right of way; ¼ 6.486).
overtaking; speeding; misjudgment of the situation; and the Model 2 of the logistic regression shows that statistically
use of a cell phone. Responsibilities for the crash related to significant variables of DUI for bicyclists are gender (DUI
another driver, pedestrian mistakes, traffic environment, or males have 5 times greater odds [OR ¼ 5.371]) and mistake
vehicle breakdown represent the responsibilities of (DUI bicyclists have 2.5 times greater odds of making a mis-
another driver. take [OR ¼ 2.514]).
The model for motorcyclists shows that the factors hel-
met use and responsibility for a crash are statistically signifi-
Results cant. DUI motorcyclists have smaller odds to use a helmet
Description of the sample and greater odds of making a mistake (Appendix F).
Statistically significant variables for DUI bus drivers are
In all groups, motorcyclists were the youngest (35.7 years; gender and journey purpose. They have greater odds of DUI
SD ¼ 12.3), with the least driving experience (9.6 years; SD if they are male and on a nonmandatory journey
¼ 10.5). Bicyclists were the oldest group of drivers (45.6 (Appendix F).
years; SD ¼ 19.2), and car drivers had the most driving For truck drivers, statistically significant variables for
experience (18.9 years; SD ¼ 12.4). Bicyclists were most DUI are the area, journey purpose, and driver’s mistakes.
often involved in crashes under the influence of alcohol Truck drivers have smaller odds of DUI if they are in an
(14.8%), followed by motorcyclists (13.6%), car drivers urban area; 4.5 greater odds of DUI if they are on a non-
(10.5%), truck drivers (4.7%), and bus drivers (1.5%). The mandatory journey; and 3.3 greater odds of making mistake
difference in driving experience for DUI crashes and non- if they are under the influence of alcohol (Appendix F).
DUI crashes was noticeable regarding motorcyclists and
truck drivers, where older drivers were more often DUI
TOPSIS method
(Table 1).
Truck drivers used seat belts to the highest degree The score of the risk factors is calculated on the basis of
(98.4%), followed by car drivers (98%) and bus drivers ORs previously obtained through 5 logistic models
(94.8%). In addition, 90.1% of motorcyclists and 15.9% of (Appendix G, see online supplement). The potential for
bicyclists used a helmet at the time of the crash (Table 1). prevalence was observed by comparing DUI crash and non-
Female drivers were involved in traffic crashes less fre- DUI crash scales of risk factors.
quently and were less frequently under the influence of alco- The factor scores of the results using the TOPSIS method
hol. A slightly smaller percentage of DUI drivers were offer a clear picture of the significance of the factors related
involved in traffic crashes during mandatory journeys, and to DUI. According to the results, we may conclude that
DUI drivers were more frequently responsible for the occur- drivers’ mistakes and male drivers are the 2 most significant
rence of traffic crashes than sober drivers (Table 1). factors related to DUI, with a score higher than 0.5. The
346  ET AL.
E. SMAILOVIC

third most significant risk factor for DUI is the nonmanda- correlation with DUI cannot be interpreted as DUI predic-
tory purpose of the journey. tors but as predictors of involvement in non-DUI crashes.
The other factors are of lesser significance for DUI: The results of the study show that DUI predictors differ
Driver experience, driver age, the area of driving, and non- from the predictors of involvement in a crash. Considering
use of restraint systems. these factors in this light led to isolation of the partial con-
For non-alcohol-related crashes, the priority of risks is tribution of DUI.
different. Involvement in traffic crashes by non-DUI drivers It is important to emphasize the partial contribution of each
is related to the nonuse of seat belts, and other factors have predictor for further development of the presented model of
significantly lower scores (Appendix G). DUI driver detection, as well as for the development of new
DUI prediction models. The future development of DUI pre-
diction models can include all or some of the predictors
Discussion
studied in this article. Thus, it is significant to underline the
This study identified DUI risk factors for 5 driver categories. partial contribution of all factors examined in this article, in
The risk factors help us better understand the problem of order to make the development of future studies more efficient.
DUI, lead to efficient prevalence measures, and facilitate the This study has shown the highest correlation between
identification of DUI drivers in traffic. Random police testing drivers’ mistakes and DUI. For the whole population of
has a limited scope if the factors characterizing DUI are not drivers, the score of the factor driving mistakes is 0.856
comprehensively observed. Testing drivers in the period of (maximum ¼ 1.000), which represents the most significant
greater alcohol consumption (at night or on the weekend) is DUI predictor. For non-DUI drivers, driving mistakes have
not sufficient for the efficient reduction of DUI prevalence. It a smaller significance as a predictor (p  0.001). These
is necessary to recognize driver groups inclined to DUI. results indicate that DUI drivers make mistakes while driv-
The key challenge of the model development in this study ing more frequently than sober drivers.
is the prediction of DUI on the basis of available data. Male gender is the second most significant predictor of
Analysis of the model results raises the issue of application DUI for the whole population of drivers, which is in accord-
of the model. The criterion for includion in the model was ance with the results of other studies (MacLeod et al. 2015;
that all suspected drivers were under the influence of alcohol Mann et al. 2010). The stated result does not refer to motor-
would require the testing of a relatively small number of cyclists, whose chances of being under the influence of alco-
drivers and leave most DUI drivers unnoticed. On the other hol are approximately the same for male and female drivers.
hand, setting the criterion to a low probability of identifying Thus, male motorcyclists do not have a higher risk of DUI
DUI drivers would enable testing of a large number of driv- than female drivers.
ers. In this situation, a large number of tests would not The score of the factor nonmandatory journey is signifi-
identify DUI drivers due to the required low accuracy. On cantly lower than the previous 2 and is a risk factor with a
the basis of the analysis of the developed logistic regression slight influence on DUI. In comparison to non-DUI crashes,
models and the viability of the requested application, we a nonmandatory journey is significantly related to DUI
suggest that testing should be conducted for drivers who crashes, which gives significance to it. In other words, the
have a DUI probability estimated as over 50%. This would specific importance of the nonmandatory journey for DUI is
lower the risk of not including all drivers and most of the present, but its influence on the whole population of drivers
tests would be successful. In order to explain this, we used is limited. These results indicate that drivers consume alcohol
testing of the predictive performance of the model. A con- more frequently outside of working hours, so its correlation
trol sample was isolated from the initial data set. The con- with DUI is significant. On the other hand, it is often difficult
trol sample was isolated for car drivers, motorcyclists, and to differentiate between a mandatory and a nonmandatory
bicyclists. Applying the model to the control sample, we journey, so its effect on the whole population is limited.
obtained the result that our models showed a DUI predic- For commercial drivers, this factor is particularly import-
tion accuracy of 77% for car drivers, 71% for DUI motorcy- ant as a predictor, which can be a result of nonmandatory
clists, and 67% for DUI bicyclists. The prediction accuracy driving or the change in behavior when professional drivers
represents the result of the model for drivers under the are not at work. It is easier to recognize this type of driver
influence of alcohol (with probability above 50%) in relation in commercial vehicle drivers, so the results of this study
to actual DUI drivers (in the control sample). Thus, the are useful for identifying DUI drivers. A commercial vehicle
results were validated, which justifies development of the driver has an 80% higher odds of being under the influence
model. For details about the purpose of study, see Appendix of alcohol during a nonmandatory journey in comparison to
D (online supplement). when he or she is driving for business/work.
The TOPSIS DUI crash model showed the risk of DUI The correlation of other factors and DUI has been deter-
drivers’ involvment in crashes, and the TOPSIS model for mined, but their partial contribution to DUI is debatable.
other crashes showed the risk of non-DUI drivers’ involve- Studying non-alcohol-related crashes has shown that the
ment in crashes. In this manner, DUI factors were verified influence of other factors on the occurrence of traffic
and the potential of DUI prevalence in relation to the fac- crashes is higher than their partial contribution to DUI
tors was determined. The factors that are significantly crashes. These results can be explained by a greater influ-
related to involvement in traffic crashes and have a low ence of other factors on the occurrence of a crash than their
TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION 347

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