DETERRENCE OF ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING. AN EFFECT IN SEARCH OF A CAUSE. SOCIAL CONTROL OF THE DRINKING DRIVER

There is scattered evidence for deterrent effects in selected programs. License actions have yielded special deterrence of convicted offenders, at least to a marginal degree. Part of the reduction in alcohol-impaired driving may be due to a diffuse, deterrent influence from the assortment of laws which have recently been deployed in various combinations throughout the United States, including per se limits, implied consent laws, preliminary breath testing, roadside revocations, sobriety check-points, and increased use of fines, license actions and jail sentences. Future efforts toward theoretical integration will have to accommodate the following polarities: law-abiding behavior and rulebreaking behavior, short-term and long-term compliance, simple deterrence and general prevention, formal sanctions and informal sanctions, legal threat and moral persuasion, external constraints and internal inhibitions, and predispositional qualities of the offender and of the general population.