Assessment of Public Opinion on Legislation to Deter Drunk Driving

WICHAI AEKPLAKORN, M.D., Ph.D.*, PAIBUL SURlYA WONGPAISAL, M.D. M.P.H.*

Affiliation : * Community Medicine Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

AbstractExisting legislative measures on blood-alcohol control of drivers failed to show a substantial effect in reducing the incidence of crash injury and mortality. Recently, a government initiative to limit locations and operating time (service hours) of nighttime entertainment venues was introduced. A telephone interviewed-survey of 500 random-samples to assess public opinion on the initiative and other legislative measures was conducted in Bangkok. The results showed that 88 per cent of the respondents supported the idea of prohibiting alcohol sale to youngsters aged <21 years old and 91 per cent agreed to limit the operating time of pubs, bars and nightclubs to no later than 2 a.m. The majority asserted that laws against drink driving were seldom enforced. More than half of the respondents agreed with the ideas of restricting medical care benefit for injured drunk drivers, and of prosecuting the related alcohol-sellers. Eighteen per cent of male respondents had drunk alcohol and driven in the past one month. A telephone survey is an efficient tool for providing timely information for policy decisions. More stringent enforcement of laws against drunk drivers should be implemented in parallel with traffic safety programs and other social control initiatives.

Keywords : Drunk Drivers, Telephone Survey, Medical Care Benefits, Law Enforcement

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