Drinking and driving by young females

Recent research indicates that women are drinking and driving more often and that the proportion of female drivers involved in fatal crashes is increasing. U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System data (Fell, 1987) suggest that although overall alcohol involvement rates in fatal crashes have been declining for the past four years, the rates for females aged 21-24 have not, and their alcohol involvement rate in late night single vehicle (SV) crashes, a surrogate measure of alcohol-related (A/R) crashes, is almost as high as that of male drivers. This paper examines the involvement of North Carolina (NC) female drivers who are less than 35 years of age for the period of 1976 through 1985 and reports on trends in driver licensing, arrests for drinking and driving, SV nighttime and A/R crashes and measured blood alcohol levels in fatalities. It identifies an emerging driving-while-impaired (DWI) problem for younger women, particularly those 21 to 24 years of age. Significant trends pertaining to the involvement of women will have implications for the design and implementation of educational, deterrence, enforcement and rehabilitation programs.