MADD Drunk Driving Laws and Deterrence

With the effect of Mothers Against Drunk Driving(MADD) and some other citizen activist groups antidrunk driving policies led to adoption of deterrentbased laws. However research findings on the effectsof those laws are mixed and cannot explain thedecline on alcohol related fatalities. Moving beyondthe published literature on this topic it ishypothesized that deterrent based laws not only havea simple deterrent effect through the threat ofpunishment but also have a moralizing and educativeeffect on individual attitudes and behavior. Unlikethe previous research this study uses both aggregateand individual level data together. Second theeffects of the laws are examined over the time notcross-sectional. Moreover the impact of MADD onstate adoption of drunk driving laws is empiricallyevaluated for the first time. The results providedstrong evidence for effectiveness of deterrent basedlaws on individual attitudes and behavior. Thefindings also indicate that MADD is an importantfactor in shaping drunk driving policies. Theanalyses should be especially useful to activistgroups professionals in traffic safety and toresearchers in this area.