For all the talk of female drunk drivers, what do we know?

Researchers and traffic safety advocates have noticed the rising trend of female drunk drivers for many years.  Unfortunately, little has been done and, as a result, there are few tested solutions in place to attack this important problem.

The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility thought the issue merited investigation and, thus, funded the study referred to in the recent Time piece.  What we know is that it's a complex problem. 

Men drink more than women at all measured intervals. Further, prevalence rates of binge drinking among women is actually on a downward trend, not increasing.  Access to and the effectiveness of treatment for women continues to cry out for further study and evaluation.  And female repeat offenders report a variety of psychiatric disorders which may play a significant role in DUI recidivism.  

As the article reports, “the data is sparse” and so jumping to any conclusions at the present time may be counter-productive and ascribing any root cause to the problem is premature.

To learn more, read Robyn Robertson's report, via the Traffic Injury Research Foundation: State of Knowledge: Female Drunk Drivers