Driving under the influence of alcohol: a sequence analysis approach

ABSTRACT

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a contributing factor to a number of road traffic accidents. There is, however, a lack of research into the behaviours that lead to drink driving. The current research used a novel approach, behaviour sequence analysis, to investigate the chains of behaviours that lead to drink driving. Statements were taken from individuals (N = 60) in an interview, reporting a time they had consumed alcohol and driven a vehicle. Statements were coded and the sequences of behavioural pairs were analysed. Results were presented in a state transition diagram, and indicated a variety of behavioural sequences leading to drink driving. A significant chain of events showed that individuals who had attempted to calculate their blood alcohol concentration and then drive a vehicle felt unsafe to drive, after driving. Also, many individuals did not intend to drink and drive; however, influences such as peer pressure and being surrounded by alcohol lead to them being more likely to consume multiple alcoholic drinks, and then drive a vehicle. The current research outlines future research, and implications for polices and laws on behaviours that surround drink driving, as well as providing a new method for research.

KEYWORDS:

• Drink driving
• laws
• alcohol
• behaviour sequence analysis
• behaviours

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In the simplest form of BSA, the analysis measures the link between one antecedent event on one subsequent (sequitur) event. This can be referred to as lag one sequence analysis or first order sequence analysis. Though there are differences between lag and order at higher levels, at the level analysed in this paper, they are equivalent. Therefore, to avoid confusion, the current paper refers to the method of analysing one antecedent event on one subsequent event as ‘Behaviour Sequence Analysis’.

2. These may also be coded as multiple instances of a single behaviour category (i.e. ‘drinks alcohol’); however, for the current research it is clearer to show the sequence of progression from the first drink, to second drink, to many drinks, rather than looping back around a single behavioural category.

3. Complete behaviour frequency data are available from the correspondence author, on request.