Policy Alternatives and Traffic Safety: Mandatory Seat Belts and Drunk Driving Reform in California

Abstract

Government has taken a variety of approaches to achieve its policy objectives. One strategy which has been utilized across a variety of issue areas is deterrence. Specifically, government attempts to induce desirable behavior by raising the certainty, swiftness and/or severity of penalties on citizens. As a policy tool the concept of deterrence has been utilized with uneven success in juvenile and adult corrections (Erickson, Stafford, and Galliher 1984; Pestello 1984; Deutsch and Alt 1977; Loftin and McDowall 1984). In addition, deterrence has entered discussions of the effectiveness of capital punishment (Ehrlich 1975; Bailey 1983; McFarland 1983) and the literature on the prevention of spousal abuse (Sherman and Berk 1984; Berk and Newton 1985). Highway safety is another policy area where the deterrence concept has been utilized extensively. The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the effects of a deterrence-based reform of the drinking and driving laws in California, effective January 1, 1982, along with the January 1, 1986, mandatory seat belt law.