DRINKING AND DRIVING BY YOUNG FEMALES. WOMEN ALCOHOL DRUGS AND TRAFFIC. PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP SEPTEMBER 29-30, 1988, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

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 (FARS) data suggest that although overall alcohol involvement rates in fatal crashes have been declining for the past 4 years, the rates for females ages 21-24 have not declined. Moreover, female drivers of that age in late night single vehicle (SV) crashes have an alcohol involvement rate which is almost as high as that of male drivers. This paper examines the involvement of North Carolina female drivers who are less than 35 years of age for the period of 1976 through 1986 and reports on trends in driver licensing, arrests for dinking and driving, SV nighttime and alcohol-relted (A/R) crashes and measured blood alcohol levels in fatalities. It identifies an emerging driving while impaired (DWI) problem for younger, 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.