Impaired Driving

Demonstrate to all road users the magnitude of the impact of impaired-driving crashes on fatality rates by making comparisons with other causes of death (e.g., murder rate).

1. Identify agencies/organizations that are collecting data correlated with impaired driving, and convene a working group to pursue this countermeasure together.
2. Identify leading causes of death and how they compare to impaired-driving fatality rates. Examples are alcohol-related deaths, cancer (e.g., breast, lung, colon, and prostate), murder, heart disease, diabetes, influenza/pneumonia, and tobacco-related deaths.
3. Identify agencies/organizations with state-specific data on different causes of death identified in step 2.
4. Collect data from appropriate sources identified in steps 1–3.
5. Compare data and determine which data points are compelling for different audiences.
6. Create an appropriate number of fact sheets (a minimum of one) that compare death rates and associated costs. Examples are the cost of law enforcement to respond, health insurance rates, car insurance, and lost productivity.
7. Create compelling charts and other visuals/infographics that show the comparisons.
8. Create an editorial calendar that identifies when to share what materials and the type of messaging associated with each item.
9. Identify audiences who should receive materials and who has access to distribute materials to those audiences (e.g., task force, employers, or employees). Others who can distribute information include TxDOT programs, nonprofits, colleges/universities, and the criminal justice system.
10. Identify the cost of implementing prevention programs versus the cost of impaired-driving fatalities.

Nonprofit agencies (e.g., Texans Standing Tall)

• Securing initial and sustained funding.
• Obtaining injury outcome data for impaired crashes.
• Obtaining reliable cost data for injuries.
• Estimating costs of effective prevention programs.