Date of Conferral

4-30-2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Sciences

Advisor

Patrick Dunn

Abstract

Alcohol-impaired driving remains a persistent public health and safety problem in the United States, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths each year and substantial societal costs. Policymakers frequently rely on alcohol excise taxes as a deterrence strategy; however, evidence regarding the effectiveness of taxation alone in reducing alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities remains mixed. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study, grounded in economic deterrence theory, was to assess relationships between state-level beer, wine, and liquor excise tax rates and alcohol-impaired traffic fatality rates per 100,000 population in 2019. A cross-sectional design used secondary data from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (N = 51), obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the Alcohol Policy Information System. Spearman’s rank-order correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships between alcohol excise tax rates and alcohol-impaired traffic fatality rates. Beer (β = .09, p = .398), wine (β = .16, p = .148), and liquor (β = .02, p = .852) excise tax rates were not significantly associated with alcohol-impaired traffic fatality rates. In contrast, urban population percentage (β = −.54, p < .001), maximum highway speed limits (β = .26, p = .027), and crashes between 3:00 and 5:59 p.m. (β = .43, p < .001) explained significant variation. Findings suggest alcohol excise taxes alone may be insufficient as a primary policy intervention for reducing alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities. Results support multifaceted public health strategies integrating taxation with enforcement, roadway design, and targeted interventions to improve traffic safety outcomes and promote positive social change.

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