YOUNG-PEOPLE, ALCOHOL, AND DRIVING IN 2 AUSTRALIAN STATES

Road traffic accidents are the single largest cause of death in Australia among people aged 15-24. The proposition that a broadly based deterrence measure, such as random breath testing (RBT), would be sufficient to change the behavior of young drivers was tested in a comparison of young drivers in New South Wales (NSW), which has had RBT for 6 years, with young drivers in Western Australia (WA), where there was no RBT. The results demonstrated that NSW young drivers were less likely to drink and drive and more likely to believe their peers would disapprove of drink-driving than were their counterparts in WA. It was concluded that RBT had altered the drink-driving behavior and possibly the beliefs about drink-driving of young people in NSW.