Indiana Residents’ Perceptions of Driving and Lower Blood Alcohol Concentration

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

Study examines Indiana residents’ perceived impact of the .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) law after its enforcement following the October 2000 federal standard. Using random-digit dialing, 525 adults (18+) were interviewed about attitudinal and perceptional changes, including demographic differences. Results show many respondents reported heavy drinking, some perceived fewer drinking occasions, and others endorsed further BAC reduction. Gender, education, and income predicted most outcomes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and policy context

Study design and sample

Key findings and predictors

Need for evaluation

Indiana Residents’ Perceptions of Driving and Lower Blood Alcohol Concentration Dong-Chul Seo and Mohammed R. Torabi ABSTRACT Since Congress passed .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as the national standard for impaired driving in October 2000, 28 U.S. States including Indiana have enacted .08 BAC law. This study investigated perceived impact of the .08 law among Indiana residents and their attitudinal and perceptional changes since the enforcement of the law. The focus of this study was to examine demographic differences in these changes. Using random-digit dialing that included unpublished numbers and new listings, a representative sample of 525 adult Indiana residents ages 18 or older was interviewed. Of the total respondents, 61%(n=320) reported having 12 or more drinks in a year, 15%(n=81) reported a decrease in the number of alcohol drinking occasions compared to their drinking behavior before the passage of the .08 law and 30% advocated further reduction of the legal limit of impaired driving below .08 g/dl, which reflects the perception of increased safety. Even though 38% of the total respondents expressed that the BAClaw should be enforced only when drinking and driving was a factor in an accident, 75% acknowledged that their driving skills became worse after consuming a couple of drinks. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses indicated that gender, education and income were significant predictors for the majority of attitudinal and perceptional outcome variables regarding drinking and driving or .08 BAC law whereas race/ethnicity, age, employment status, religion and political views contributed little to the prediction. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death 1 for Americans ages 2 through 33 causing $231 billion of economic cost in 2000.2 In 2002, 42,815 Americans were killed by motor vehicle crashes and 41% of those deaths (17,419) were alcohol-related.3 This translates to one alcohol-related traffic fatality every 30 minutes in the United States. With increasing social concern about impaired driving and research findings indicating substantial impairment with regard to critical driving tasks such as braking, steering and lane changing at .08 g/dl BAC, Congress passed.08 BAC as the national standard for impaired driving in October 2000 and it became alawon October 23, 2000.4 Since then, 28 U.S. States including Indiana have joined 20 other States or territories that had already enacted .08 BAC law before October 2000. Currently, as of May 2004, 46 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enforcing the .08 law.5 Despite the enforcement of lower BAC standard along with other major initiatives such as the Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk campaign, no visible improvement has been observed over the last several years in terms of both the number of alcohol-related fatalities and alcohol-related fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) for the nation. The number of alcohol-related fatalities was 15,935 in 1998, 15,786 in 1999, 16,653 in 2000, 17,448 in 2001 and 17,419 in 2002.3, 6-9 The alcoholrelated fatality rate per 100 million VMTwas 0.63 in 1998, 0.62 in 1999, 0.63 in 2000, 0.62 in 2001 and 0.61 in 2002.10 These data might throw doubt upon the effectiveness of the .08 BAC law, bringing attention to Dong-Chul Seo, PhD, is lecturer, CHES, Department of Applied Health Science, at Indiana University, HPER 116, 1025 E. 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405; E-mail: [sdongchu@indiana.edu. Mohammed](sdongchu@indiana.edu. Mohammed) R. Torabi, PhD, is Chancellor’s Professor and Chairperson, Department of Applied Health Science, at Indiana University, HPER 116, 1025 E. 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405. 26 American Journal of Health Education—January/February 2005, Volume 36, No. 1 Dong-Chul Seo and Mohammed R. Torabi the 1999 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) that conducted a critical review of the .08 BAC studies and stated that t

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this study?

To examine how Indiana residents perceive the impact of the .08 BAC law on drinking and driving attitudes, perceptions, and related changes since enforcement, including demographic differences.

How was the survey conducted and how many participants were included?

A representative sample of 525 adult Indiana residents (age 18+) was interviewed using random-digit dialing that included unpublished numbers and new listings.

Which groups were most predictive of changes in attitudes and perceptions?

Gender, education, and income were significant predictors for most attitudinal and perceptional outcome variables regarding drinking and driving or the .08 BAC law, while race/ethnicity, age, employment status, religion, and political views contributed little.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda