Hazards Faced by Young Designated Drivers: In-Car Risks of Driving Drunken Passengers

Peter J. Rothe and Linda J. Carroll
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Peter J. Rothe: Centre for Health Promotion Studies and Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, School of Public Health, University of Alberta; 4075 RTF, 8308 – 114 Street; Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
Linda J. Carroll: Department of Public Health Sciences and Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, School of Public Health, University of Alberta; 4075 RTF, 8308 – 114 Street; Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada

IJERPH, 2009, vol. 6, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: This qualitative study explored the risk in the practice of young designated drivers transporting drunken peers. Young drivers 18-29 years old in Alberta, Canada participated in 12 focus groups (N = 146). Interviews were semi-structured. A key finding is that when highly intoxicated youth are driven by a designated driver who is a peer, they are likely to behave in ways that are unsafe. Unsafe actions of drunken passengers in the vehicle include physical “rough-housing” with the driver, creating stress for the driver that leads to high risk driving situations and disrupting safe driving through nausea and in-car vomiting.

Keywords: impaired driving; designated driver; traffic safety; injury control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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