Drinking and driving : sociological aspects : TARU 2/72

In providing the means for mobility for countless thousands of people in this highly urbanised and affluent society, the highway system must perforce cater for many individuals whose quality of performance is relatively low. This may be temporary or permanent, and precipitating factors can include inborne incompetence, age, illness, and most importantly of all, the ingestion of alcohol. Because alcoholic intoxication has emerged as the prime factor in increasing the risk of traffic crash, the combination of drinking and driving has not only become the subject of intense and careful study over recent years but has also precipitated in most motorized countries the introduction of a variety of legislative controls with the basic objective of reducing crash rates. A great deal of information still needs to be gathered, however, some preliminary data from a New South Wales study of drink-driving practices and attitudes are reported.

在为这个高度城市化且富裕的社会中无数民众提供出行便利的过程中，公路系统必然需要接纳诸多驾驶表现水平相对较低的个体。这类情况可能是暂时性的，也可能是永久性的，其诱发因素包括天生能力不足、年龄因素、疾病，而最为关键的则是饮酒行为。由于醉酒已成为提升交通事故风险的首要诱因，近年来酒驾行为不仅成为学界深入细致研究的课题，同时也促使多数机动化国家出台了一系列以降低事故发生率为核心目标的立法管控措施。尽管仍需收集大量相关数据，但本文仍将报告来自新南威尔士州一项针对酒驾行为与态度的研究所得出的部分初步数据。