Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Women, Alcohol, and Driving

  • Chapter
Recent Developments in Alcoholism

Part of the book series: Recent Developments in Alcoholism ((RDIA,volume 12))

Abstract

Alcohol-related crashes and fatalities have shown a dramatic decrease over the last decade. While males continue to account for most alcohol-related crashes, females are an increasing proportion of alcohol-involved drivers in both fatal and nonfatal crashes. Although most research has not addressed the possibility of gender differences in the effects of alcohol on driving performance, available evidence suggests that such differences may exist. Alcohol appears to have greater effects on females in terms of biomedical damage and impaired performance, although these effects have not been systematically investigated in relation to driving. Effective prevention programs for women require more focused research to understand gender-related factors in the effects of alcohol on driving.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Warren RA, Simpson HM: Exposure and alcohol as risk factors in the fatal nighttime collisions of men and women drivers. J Safety Res 12:151–156, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Soderstrom CA, Arias JD, Carson SL, Cowley RA: Alcohol consumption among vehicular occupants injured in crashes. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 8:269–271, 1984.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Simpson HM, Mayhew DR: The hard core drinking driver-Ottawa, Traffic Injury Research Foundation of Canada, 1991, p 26.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cerrelli EC: Crash data and rates for age-sexgroups of drivers-1990. Research note. Washington, DC, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Traffic Injury Research Foundation of Canada: Characteristics of drivers involved in traffic crashes: Gender and age in Drinking and Driving in Ontario—Statistical Yearbook 1988–89. Toronto, Drinking/Driving Counter measures Office, Ministry of the Athorney General, 1991, p. 6.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Meyers AR, Perrine MW, Foss RD: Roadside surveys of nocturnal drinking drivers in Ohio, in Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, T92. Cologne, TUV Rheinland, pp 1104–1109.

    Google Scholar 

  7. US Centers for Disease Control: Preventing Injuries. Atlanta, GA, US Department of Health and Human Resources, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Williams AF, Lund AK, Preusser DF: Drinking and driving among high school students. Int J Addict 21:643–655, 1986.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Smith PF, Remington PL: The epidemiology of drinking and driving: Results from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 1986. Health Educ Q 16:345–358.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Johnston LD: Statement of Lloyd D. Johnston, Ph.D., Program Director, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Made before the Subcommittee on Select Education and Civil Rights of the House Education and Labor Committee in hearings on the reauthorization of The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, March 1993, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Sutoky JW, Shultz JM, Kizer KW: Alcohol-related mortality in California, 1980 to 1989. Am J Publ Health 83:817–823, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  12. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Fatal Accident Reporting System 1991. Washington, DC, NHTSA, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Beirness, DJ: Female drivers in Canada: Trends in accident involvement, in Valverius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 23–31.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pikkarainen J, Penttila A: Women arrested for drunken driving in Finland during 1967–1987, in Valverius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Sept 29, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, DALCTRAF, 1989, pp 129–132.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Puschel K, Janssen W, Schmutte P, Jansen R: Comparison of female and male drunken drivers in hamburg 1970–1987, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the ICADTS International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 59–62.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Freudenstein P, Schmidt P, Wolfgang B: Female DWI offenders: The situation in Dusseldorf, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the ICADTS International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 63–64.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Erkens M: Involvement of drunken women in road traffic, in Valverius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Sept 29, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm: DALCTRAF, 1989, pp 65–71.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Gruner O, Bilzer N, Frevel HF: Drinking and driving women/Schlewsing-Holstein between 1977–1987, in Valverius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Sept 29, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, DALCTRAF, 1989, pp 101–107.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Bailey JPM: Female drinking drivers in New Zealand, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the ICADTS International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 73–81.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Jones W, Holmgren P, Andersson E: FEmale drinking drivers in Sweden, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the ICADTS International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 43–51.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Popkin CL: Drinking and driving by young females. Accid Anal Prev 23(1): 37–44, 1991.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Fell JC: Alcohol involvement rates in fatal crashes: A focus on young drivers and female drivers, in 31st Proceedings of the American Association for Automotive Medicine. Des Plaines, IL: American Association for Automotive Medicine, 1987, pp 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Argeriou M, Paulino D: Women arrested for drunken driving in Boston. J Stud Alcohol 37(5):648–657, 1976.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Vingilis E, Adlaf EM, Chung L: Comparison of age and sex characteristics of police-suspected impaired drivers and roadside-surveyed impaired drivers. Accid Anal Prev 14:425–430, 1982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Franklin S: Demographic and diagnostic characteristics of 108 women convicted of driving while intoxicated in Allen County, Indiana, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 157–164.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Lang E, Stockwell T: Drinking locations of drunk-drivers: A comparative analysis of accident and nonaccident cases. Accid Anal Prev 23:573–584, 1991.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Shore ER, McCoy ML, Toonen LA, Kuntz EJ: Arrests of women for driving under the influence. J Stud Alcohol 49(1):7–10, 1988.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Wells-Parker E, Pang MG, Anderson BJ, et al: Female DUI offenders: A comparison to male counterparts and an examination of the effects of intervention on women’s recidivism rates. J Stud Alcohol 52(2):142–147, 1991.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Snow RW, Anderson BJ, Landrum JW: The life activities inventory as a DUI countermeasure: An attempted replication, Social Science Research Center (ed). Mississippi State: Mississippi State University, 1993, p 7.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Adebayo A: Factors antecedent to impaired driving in an Canadian urban sample. IntJAddict 26:897–909, 1991.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Farrow JA: Drinking and driving behaviors of 16 to 19 year-olds. J Stud Alcohol 46:369–374, 1985.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Canterbury RJ, Gressard CF, Vieweg WVR, et al: Risk-taking behavior of college students and social forces. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 18:213–222, 1992.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Milgram GG: Adolescents, alcohol and aggression. J Stud Alcohol 11:53–61, 1993.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. White HR, Brick J, Hansel1 S: A longitudinal investigation of alcohol use and aggression in adolescence. J Stud Alcohol 11:62–77, 1993.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Gomberg ESL: Alcohol, women and the expression of aggression. J Stud Alcohol 11:89–95, 1993.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Spigner C, Hawkins W, Loren W: Gender differences in perception of risk associated with alcohol and drug use among college students. Women Health 20:87–97, 1993.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Weseman P: Drinking and driving: No longer “only for men,” in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the ICADTS International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 83–90.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Farrow JA, Brissing P: Risk for DWI: A new look at gender differences in drinking and driving influences, experiences, and attitudes among new adolescent drivers. Health Educ Q 17:213–221, 1990.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Federal Highway Administration: Highway Statistics, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Belton, B: Automakers come a long way, baby. USA Today, 27 Jan: 1A, final edition, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Fillmore KM: “When angels fall”: Women’s drinking as cultural preoccupation and as reality, in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women: Antecedents, Consequences, and Intervention. New York, Guilford Press, 1984, pp 7–36.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wilsnack RW, Wilsnack SC: Women, work, and alcohol: Failures of simple theories. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 16:172–179, 1992.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Borkenstein RF, Crowther RF, Shumate RP, et al: The Role of the Drinking Driver in Traffic Accidents. Bloomington, IN, Department of Police Administration, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Zador PL: Alcohol-related risk of fatal driver injuries in relation to driver age and sex. J Stud Alcohol 52:302–310, 1991.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Biecheler-Fretel MB, Danech-Pajouh M, El Quadrani A: Drinking and driving. A typological approach comparing men and women, in Valerius MR (ed): Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic: Proceedings of the International Workshop, 1988, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiksell, 1989, pp 119–127.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Erwin CP, Wiener EL, Linnoila MI, Truscott TR: Alcohol-induced drowsiness and vigilance performance. J Stud Alcohol 39(3):505–516, 1978.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Price DL, Radwan MAE, Tergou DE: Gender, alcohol, pacing and incentive effects on an electronics assembly task. Ergonomics 29(3):393–406, 1986.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Niaura RS, Nathan PE, Frankenstein W, et al: Gender differences in acute psychomotor, cognitive, and pharmacokinetic response to alcohol. Addict Behav 12:345–356, 1987.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Haut JS, Beckwith BE, Petros TV, Russell S: Gender differences in retrieval from long-term memory following acute intoxication with ethanol. Physiol Behav 45:1161–1165, 1989.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Moscowitz H, Burns M: Effects of alcohol on driving performance. Alcohol Health Res World 14(1):12–14, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Avant LL: Alcohol impairs visual presence/absence detection more for females than for males. Percept Psychophysiol 48(3):285–290, 1990.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Saville PD: Alcohol-related skeletal disorders. Ann NY Acad Sci 25(252):287–291, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Peng TC, Garner SC, Frye GD, Crenshaw MA: Evidence of a toxic effect of ethanol on bone in rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 6(1):96–99, 1982.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Sherlock S: Liver disease in women. Alcohol, autoimmunity, and gallstones. West J Med 149(6):683–686, 1988.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Benveniste K, Thut P: The effect of chronic alcoholism on wound healing. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 166(4):568–575, 1981.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Waller, PF, Steward JR, Hansen AR, et al: The potentiating effects of alcohol on driver injury. J Am Med Assoc 256(11):1461–1466, 1986.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Liedtke AJ, DeMuth WE: Effects of alcohol on cardiovascular performance after experimental nonpenetrating chest trauma. Am J Cardiol 35(2):243–250, 1975.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Nicholas GG, DeMuth WE Jr: Blunt cardiac trauma: The effect of alcohol on survival and metabolic function. J Trauma 20(1):58–60, 1980.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Malt SH, Baue AE: The effects of ethanol as related to trauma in the awake dog. J Trauma 11(1):76–86, 1971.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Garrison HG, Hansen AR, Cross RE, Proctor HJ: Effect of ethanol on lactic acidosis in experimental hemorrhagic shock. Ann Emerg Med 13(1):26–29, 1984.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Flamm ES, Demopoulos HB, Seligman ML, et al: Ethanol potentiation of central nervous system trauma. J Neurosurg 46(3):328–335, 1977.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. De Crescito V, Demopoulos HB, Flamm ES, Ransohoff J II: Ethanol potentiation of traumatic cerebral edema. Surg Forum 25:438–440, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Anderson TE: Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on spinal cord vascular injury. J Neurotrauma 3(3):183–192, 1986.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Brodner RA, Van Gilder JC, Collins WF Jr.: Experimental spinal cord trauma: Potentiation by alcohol. J Trauma 21(2):124–129, 1981.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Blume SB: Alcohol problems in women. NY State J Med 82(8):1222–1224, 1982.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Hernandez-Avila M, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, et al: Caffeine, moderate alcohol intake, and risk of fractures of the hip and forearm in middle-aged women. Am J Clin Nutr 54:157–163, 1991.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Frezza M, Di Padova C, Pozzato G, et al: High blood alcohol levels in women: The role of decreased gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity and first-pass metabolism. N Engl J Med 322(2):95–99, 1990.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Minkler M, Wallack L, Madden P: Alcohol and cigarette advertising in Ms. magazine. J Publ Health Policy 8(2):164–179, 1987.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Temple MT, Fillmore DM, Harka E, et al: A meta-analysis of change in marital and employment status as predictors of alcohol consumption on a typical occasion. Br J Addict 86(10): 1269–1281, 1991.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  70. McCormack A: Risk for alcohol-related accidents in divorced and separated women. J Stud Alcohol 46(3):240–243, 1985.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-2150

    Patricia F. Waller

  2. University of Michigan Alcohol Research Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48108-3318

    Frederic C. Blow

Authors
  1. Patricia F. Waller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frederic C. Blow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York

    Marc Galanter (Associate Editor) (Associate Editor)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Waller, P.F., Blow, F.C. (2002). Women, Alcohol, and Driving. In: Galanter, M., et al. Recent Developments in Alcoholism. Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47138-8_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47138-8_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44921-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-47138-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation