Despite the widespread promotion of SRs in local and national publicity campaigns,
the use of SRs by many drinkers, and public enthusiasm about the efficacy of SRs in
reducing DWI, little is known about the characteristics of individuals who use SRs.
This information is important for two reasons. First, for SR services to be successful
in preventing DWI, it is imperative that they attract and serve at-risk drinkers who,
without the SR service, would drive while alcohol-impaired. If SR programs are only
attractive to moderate drinkers who rarely if ever drink enough to be impaired when
driving, or who rarely drive when they feel intoxicated, these programs will not have a
substantive impact on DWI. Secondly, information about the characteristics of SR
users can also help programs target underserved, at-risk populations of drinking
drivers. Given the popularity of SR programs as a means of preventing DWI, it is
surprising that so little attention has been devoted to research on this topic over the
last decade. One reason for the dearth of research on SR users is that they are difficult
to locate except through procedures such as barroom surveys or ride-along assessments,
which few researchers have conducted regarding any DWI prevention strategy.
Another reason is that many SR service programs only operate during high-risk
occasions for DWI such as on holidays, which also makes it difficult to locate SR
users for research.