Intervening to decrease the probability of alcohol-impaired driving: Impact of novel field sobriety tests.
The efficacy of novel field sobriety tests to predict breath alcohol content (BAC) and perceptions of driving risk was evaluated. Participants (N = 210) were passersby at two downtown locations near local bars and one on-campus location near a late-night dining facility between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Participants gave ratings of their perceived risk to drive at their current level of intoxication, then completed three sobriety tests (a hand-pat, tracing test, and Romberg test), and finally provided new ratings of their perceived risk to drive. After completing the final set of questions, participants were administered a Lifeloc FC20 breath alcohol test (±.005 g/dL). Each of the sobriety tests performed better than chance at predicting participant intoxication, but the performance feedback did not enhance awareness of one's risk to drive at a given BAC. Actually, after the sobriety tests, Greek-life females perceived themselves to be less at-risk to drive.
a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.|b Department of Psychology , Virginia Tech , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.
Ryan C
RC
Smith
b Department of Psychology , Virginia Tech , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.
Zechariah
Z
Robinson
b Department of Psychology , Virginia Tech , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.
Alexandra
A
Bazdar
b Department of Psychology , Virginia Tech , Blacksburg , Virginia , USA.
E Scott
ES
Geller
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001944:Breath Tests; D000066448:Driving Under the Influence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000066608:Underage Drinking; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
Alcohol abuse; college drinking; drunk driving; intoxication; sobriety testing