Connecticut's 2003 Impaired-Driving High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign
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DOT HS 810 689 February 2007 Connecticut’s 2003 Impaired-Driving High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade or manufacturers' names or products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT HS 810 689 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Connecticut’s 2003 Impaired-Driving High-Visibility Enforcement February 2007 Campaign 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. T.J. Zwicker, N. K. Chaudhary, S. Maloney, R. Squeglia 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Preusser Research Group, Inc. and CT Governor’s Highway Safety 7100 Main Street 2800 Berlin Turnpike 11. Contract or Grant No. Trumbull, CT 06611 Newington, CT 06131 NHTSA Contract DTNH22-98-D- 45079 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered U.S. Department of Transportation Final Report National Highway Traffic Safety Administration January 2003 – December 2004 400 Seventh Street SW. Washington, DC 20590 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for this project was Linda Cosgrove. 16. Abstract In 2003, Connecticut initiated a publicity and enforcement campaign to reduce impaired driving and alcohol- related fatalities, particularly among men 21 to 34 years old. The State spent nearly 4 million dollars on the campaign. The campaign began during the July 4th holiday period, was sustained during the summer and fall, and peaked during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday period. Statewide telephone surveys indicated that drivers reported significantly more often after the campaign that they had heard about impaired driving in Connecticut and had been through or knew someone who had been through a sobriety checkpoint. Telephone surveys also indicated that more drivers thought State and local police were very strict about enforcing the laws against drinking and driving and that a driver who had been drinking was very likely to be stopped by police. Patterns were similar for men 21 to 34 years old. Roadside surveys of driver blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) indicated a significant decrease in the proportion of drivers with a positive BAC at the end of the campaign compared to the previous year. In addition, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average analyses of the alcohol-related fatality trend for the State and for men 21 to 34 indicated that both rates decreased significantly, by an estimated 2.6 and 1.6 fewer fatalities each month. The total lives saved amounted to 47 statewide and 29 for men 21 to 34 in the year and a half following the campaign’s start. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Alcohol, Impaired-Driving Countermeasures, Publicity, Document is available through the Sobriety Checkpoints, Alcohol-Related Fatalities, DWI, National Technical Information Service BAC testing, High-Visibility Enforcement, DWI Enforcement Springfield, VA 22161 www.nhtsa.dot.gov 19. Security Classif.(of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized i This page intentionally left blank. ii DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION TECHNICAL SUMMARY CONTRACTOR CONTRACT NUMBER Preusser Research Group, Inc. NHTSA Contract DTNH22-98-D-45079 REPORT TITLE REPORT DATE Connecticut’s 2003 Impaired-Driving High-Visibility Enforcement February 2007 Campaign REPORT AUTHOR(S) T.J. Zwicker, N. K. Chaudhary, S. Maloney, R. Squeglia Connecticut’s number of alcohol-related fatalities remained essentially constant from 1992 to 2002. In addition, the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities (50.6%) out of all crash fatalities (312) during 2001 was higher than the national percentage (41.4%) and was also higher than other New England States (45.9%). Connecticut and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) focused their efforts to reduce drinking and driving, with media efforts focusing particularly on men 21 to 34 because of their overrepresentation in alcohol-related fatal crashes. Background Federal Highway Administration funds were transferred by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and committed to the Division of Highway Safety for a statewide impaired-driving publicity and enforcement campaign. The campaign represents the first time that Connecticut has expended such a substantial amount of money for both media and enforcement in its efforts to reduce impaired driving and, ultimately, alcohol-related injury and fatal crashes. The campaign consisted of three components: (1) media with an enforcement message, (2) enhanced periods of enforcement surrounding the July 4th and winter holidays focusing on the use of sobriety checkpoints, and (3) sustained enforcement between holiday enforcement periods. Connecticut’s efforts followed the NHTSA impaired-driving high-visibility enforcement model and was a test of NHTSA’s model, which includes (1) paid and earned media in support of (2) statewide high-intensity enforcement crackdowns, and (3) planned, sustained enforcement efforts between crackdowns. The enforcement component involved commitment to sustained DWI enforcement throughout the year and two enhanced enforcement crackdowns covering the Independence Day and Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday periods. NHTSA’s model focuses on crackdowns that cover 85 percent of the States’ populations and involve high-visibility sobriety checkpoints and/or saturation patrols during three weekends (16 days) of these holiday periods. It also iii encompasses public awareness efforts involving State earned media, State funded paid media, and NHTSA paid media. Media Congress appropriated $11 million for paid media. Of the total, $5.5 million was spent to purchase air time on national TV, and the remainder was used to develop the ad used and for paid media in the 13 strategic evaluation States chosen because of their high alcohol-related fatality trend or high number of alcohol-related fatalities. Although Connecticut was not a strategic evaluation State, it followed NHTSA’s impaired-driving high-visibility enforcement model including using NHTSA’s ads. The TV ad was targeted especially to young men 18 to 34 and was placed on TV programs often viewed by this group. The ad ran during the June 20 – July 13, 2003, period. Connecticut’s media campaign spanned 11 months beginning in March 2003 at a cost of $2,199,533. The enforcement grant funds totaled $1,582,568. Connecticut spent a total of $3,782,101 on its 2003 impaired-driving publicity and enforcement program. For each of the State’s campaign periods, a four- to six-week paid and earned media (media coverage a program “earns” whenever it makes the news in print or broadcast) campaign with a strong enforcement message was implemented. The focus of the media campaign was generally the same as that of NHTSA, primarily young men 21 to 34 years old due to their high rate of involvement in alcohol-related crashes. The media campaigns focused on two holiday periods during 2003 and were also designed to create the perception of sustained enforcement between these two holiday periods. Some media components continued throughout the campaign. Sobriety Checkpoints Sobriety checkpoints constituted the main focus of the enforcement effort. In total, the State funded 24 sobriety checkpoints during the July 4th holiday period. Fifteen towns held at least one sobriety checkpoint during the July 4th holiday period. Under the expanded grants, a total of 18 towns and the State Police conducted a total of 89 sobriety checkpoints. Some of the sobriety checkpoints conducted under the expanded grants were conducted during the two holiday periods, but there is no information on exactly how many of them were held during the holiday enforcement periods. Twenty- eight police agencies and the State Police conducted a total of 51 sobriety checkpoints during the winter holiday period, more than twice as many as conducted during the July 4th holiday period. Twenty additional sobriety checkpoints included an evaluation research component after the normal portion of the sobriety checkpoint in which researchers collected direct observations of drinking and driving by obtaining breath alcohol concentration (BAC) information from a random sample of drivers passing through the sobriety checkpoint. iv In summary, the program began during the July 4th crackdown period, was sustained during the next few months, and then peaked during the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday period. Program Evaluation The evaluation included statewide telephone surveys, direct observations of drinking and driving at sobriety checkpoints before and after each holiday enhanced enforcement effort, DWI arrest data, and alcohol-related fatality data. Statewide Telephone