Drinking and driving: explaining beverage-specific risks.
OBJECTIVE
This study tested whether the association of beer drinking with drinking and driving is due to cultural norms or is an artifact arising from the demographic profile of beer drinkers (young and male), the drinking patterns of this subpopulation (frequent and heavy), and the venues in which they prefer to drink (bars and restaurants).


METHODS
Telephone survey data from six U.S. communities were used to establish the demographic characteristics of drinkers, their consumption patterns, beverage preferences, preferred drinking venues and self-reported drinking and driving rates. The survey completion rate was 64.6%. A total sample of 5,231 drinkers was divided into test and validity samples. After deletion of cases with missing data, the test sample included 2,275 drinkers, of whom 985 had driven after drinking.


RESULTS
Controlling for a broad set of covariates, the analyses showed that frequent consumers were more likely to drink outside the home, preferred beer and spirits to wine, and were more likely than others to drink and drive. Beverage preferences were not directly associated with drinking and driving. Beer drinkers, however, were from the subpopulation most likely to drink and drive: heavier drinking younger men, who prefer to drink at bars and restaurants.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the association of beer consumption with drinking-driving arises from the circumstances in which the subpopulation of beer drinkers more commonly find themselves (as a result of their efforts to maximize, within economic constraints, the social and amenity value of drinking), as opposed to any culturally induced disposition beer drinkers may have to drink and drive.
Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, California 94704, USA.
P J
PJ
Gruenewald
F W
FW
Johnson
A
A
Millar
P R
PR
Mitchell
D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology