The 24/7 Sobriety Program’s Effects on Impaired Drivers in North Dakota: 2014–2019

Details

• Creators:
  Vachal, Kimberly ; Zhou, Yun ; Awasthi, Shantanu ; Kubas, Andrew
• Corporate Creators:
  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  North Dakota. Dept. of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Before And After Studies Crash Rates Drunk Driving Recidivism Safety Programs Traffic Citations Trend (Statistics)
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DP-312
• Resource Type:
  Statistical Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  North Dakota ; United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
• Abstract:
  The 24/7 Sobriety Program is an intervention strategy mandating that alcohol-impaired driving offenders remain sober as a condition of bond or pre-trial release. The goal is to monitor the most at-risk offenders in North Dakota and require that these individuals remain sober in order to keep roadways safe from hazardous drivers. As a component of the program, offenders are required to submit to twice-a-day blood alcohol concentration tests, ankle bracelet monitoring, drug patches, or urinalysis as a monitoring technique. While a pilot phase included a 60-day and discretionary enrollment options for repeat DUI offenders, the current standard is a minimum 360-day sentencing period for all repeat offenders in North Dakota and other early adaptor states. Stakeholder experiences and empirical evidence supported the program’s deterrent effects on DUI-related citations. If a program participant fails to remain sober while enrolled, the individual is sent directly to jail. This assessment sought to extend the earlier research into North Dakota’s experience as a promising program into a maturing program. The goal was to offer evidence-based knowledge for critical program aspects in the state’s continuous program improvement initiative. The focus areas were: (1) if positive deterrent effects were statistically evident during program enrollment; (2) if deterrent effects were sustained beyond program completion; (3) if deterrent effects were stronger among certain participant subpopulations; and, (4) if select factors were associated with greater likelihood for recidivism. Results show that participants significantly improve crash and citation metrics after enrolling in the program. Individuals participating in the program for a fourth-time offense have higher odds of relapsing into the alcohol impaired driving behavior. These individuals, termed high-risk in this study, may benefit from treatment alternatives as they may represent the North Dakota driver subpopulation that has issues with chronic alcohol abuse and self-control.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cc7c864752f04c5ddd91d44a028151065155c96e7455485f47790686f1f7f1a5
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/64759/dot_64759_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.77 MB ]