The effects of ecological characteristics on drunk driving in the United States

This dissertation is written in a two-article format consisting of two journal length papers preceded by a short introduction and description of the next steps related to this research. The population-based analyses presented in both papers are based on cross-sectional information compiled from a variety of official agencies that disseminate county-level data including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and U.S. Census Bureau, among others. This collection of data is well suited to describe and explain the subnational distribution of drunk driving (DUI) across counties in the United States. The first paper aims to understand whether alcohol markets, population characteristics and formal DUI-control account for differences in DUI rates across counties. Findings suggest greater numbers of drinking places per capita are associated with lower rates of DUI enforcement and lower rates of DUI behavior. Traditional indicators of social disorganization that have been used widely to explain systematic variation in crime rates across areas appear to be only moderately useful in explaining variation in DUI. Officials should exercise caution when implementing county-wide policies that reduce the number of bars and taverns. Alcohol markets, population characteristics, and DUI laws are valuable in explaining why the pattern of DUI enforcement does not match the distribution of DUI behavior across counties in the United States. The second paper investigates how differences in formal legal factors, such as open container laws, seat-belt laws, and strength of the police force, and informal non-legal factors, such as normative climates towards drinking, are related to variation in DUI rates across counties. Findings suggest that normative climates toward drinking account for some of the variation in rates DUI enforcement and DUI behavior, independent of formal legal factors. While laws and formal DUI-control are related to variation in DUI, the overall findings of this dissertation highlight the importance and value of ecological characteristics belonging to people and places in explaining differences in DUI rates across the United States