Based on the principles in Chapter 2 of the GRSP guide, Situation Assessment Guidelines were
developed by IARD in conjunction with the three-year set of initiatives launched in 2010, Global
Actions on Harmful Drinking. The guidelines were used to conduct situation assessments in six
countries: China, Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation and Vietnam.
DISCUSSION GROUP HIGHLIGHTS FROM
DRINK DRIVING WORKSHOP
Common issues uncovered by this effort included:
• Lack of accurate official statistics
• Lack of public awareness/concern about drink driving
• Lack of legal framework (e.g., legal BAC limit)
• Lack of enforcement resources (training, equipment)
• Lack of alcohol control policies
• Availability of unregulated alcohol beverages
• Cultural acceptance of certain drinking patterns
• Lack of norms about drinking and driving
Workshop delegates participated in three parallel group discussions on the drink driving
dimension of the African Road Safety Action Plan (Pillar 4). The groups identified the challenges
and enablers to the implementation of measures aimed at curbing drink driving in African countries.
The challenges identified by workshop discussion groups were related to:
• Legislation and penalties: African countries
generally lack appropriate legislation to deal
with drink driving. Existing legislation
In addition, IARD has developed a Drink Driving Training Program Workbook. The workbook
has been designed for road safety professionals and staff of organisations who are responsible
for the preparation and conduct of effective anti-drink driving programmes.
Following the workbook programme will help:
• Build knowledge about the components of an effective drink driving programme.
• Develop skills among participants to enable them to design and establish a drink driving
programme and advocate for sustainable policies and actions which target drink driving.
is generally complicated with loopholes.
The diversity of legislation from country
to country is confusing for commercial drivers.
• Enforcement: Inadequate capacity of traffic
police to enforce drink driving legislation
including poor working conditions, insufficient
and poor quality breath testing equipment,
lack of training, low levels of knowledge about
• Provide a commencement to a drink driving programme through development of potential
objectives, initiatives and an evaluation design.
Monitoring and evaluating road safety measures is vital to understanding if the objectives were
achieved, identifying what worked and what did not, and providing guidance for continuing or
scaling the measure. Monitoring and evaluation activities also identify risks and help determine
whether the measure is appropriate for the target population. It is particularly important that
monitoring and evaluation activities are built into the programme at the very beginning, and that
the most appropriate methods for the local society and culture are chosen.
We invite you to view the following related workshop presentations:
1. The Impact of Alcohol on Road Crashes: Global Overview and Perspectives
2. Use of Situation Assessments to Understand the Drink Driving Issue
3. Design & Implementation of an Effective Drinking & Driving Programme
4. The Impact of Alcohol on Road Crashes: Monitoring and Evaluation
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drinking and driving including laws and
penalties, and poor maintenance of existing
breath testing equipment.
• Judiciary: Low levels of prosecution rates and
inadequate knowledge among the judiciary
about the risks of drinking and driving.
• Road safety management systems: Road safety management systems differ widely, but are
generally still weak and thus ineffective. In some countries, such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya,
among others, strong systems are now in place.
• Political will: Political will to tackle road safety is low in most countries.
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