This is not the first (and likely will not be the last) blog post about research findings and strategies to reduce impaired driving. A few months ago, I wrote about a veteran researcher’s recommendations to expand ignition interlock and conduct more high visibility enforcement. Last week, I wrote about the risks posed by impaired drivers, the prevalence of impairment by alcohol versus other impairing substances, and the percentage of impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes who have previously been convicted of impaired driving. This week’s post addresses research in two areas related to efforts to reduce impaired driving: (1) the impact of transportation network companies, like Uber and Lyft, on the incidence of impaired driving; and (2) British Columbia’s success in reducing impaired driving through a program imposing administrative, rather than criminal, sanctions. Transportation network companies, like Uber and Lyft, may help reduce impaired driving, but are not a silver bullet. Researchers have noted that “[i]f would-be drunk drivers were rational, then lowering the difficulty of finding alternate transportation options and the cost of those options would, in theory, reduce the number of drunk driving occurrences and fatalities.” Noil Brazil & David S. Kirk, Uber and Metropolitan Traffic Fatalities in the United States, 184(3) American Journal of Epidemiology 192, 193 (2016). Transportation network companies (TNCs or ride-share companies) have claimed reducing the incidence of impaired driving as among the benefits they provide. Id. Empirical research of this claim has reached mixed results. Jacey Fortin, Does Uber Really Prevent Drunken Driving? It [...]
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