Designated drivers may not be abstaining enough: study

Designated drivers may not be abstaining from alcohol entirely, despite evidence suggesting they should, notes a new study out of the University of Florida.

Researchers there conducted six field studies over three months in a “college community restaurant and bar district,” for their study, published in the July 2013 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The researchers interviewed more than 1,000 bar patrons and measured their breath alcohol concentrations (BrACs), also asking whether they were acting as designated drivers and assessing other “alcohol-related behaviours.”

Of those acting as designated drivers, nearly 40% did not refrain from alcohol use, the study found. “Of the 165 self-identified DDs, only 65% had a .00/210 L BrAC reading,” the study said.

“Approximately 17% of DDs had BrACs between .02 and .049 g/210 L, whereas 18% recorded BrACs at .05 g/210 L or greater,” it said.

While the study had some limitations, especially being concentrated in a college bar area, researchers say the findings support the idea that many people don’t know what “constitutes a safe designated driver.”

“When you look at evaluations of designated driver campaigns, they’re really ineffective,” the study’s lead author, Adam E. Barry, an assistant professor of health education at the University of Florida told the New York Times.

“Often people choose designated drivers because they’re the ones who’ve drunk the least,” he said. “The most practical recommendation is that if you drive, you shouldn’t drink at all.”

Education campaigns, therefore, need to address that and point out that a designated driver should be someone who has had no alcohol, the study suggests.