Pilot Study of Promotion of Public Breath Testing

This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of various promotional activities in attempting to achieve a 10% or greater usage rate of public breath test machines by drivers with a BAC over .05 in licensed premises in Melbourne. The two levels of promotional activity undertaken were placement of posters and coasters in venues (Level A) and posters and coasters plus an inhouse promotional event and local media coverage (Level B). The cost (to the driver) of testing was 20 cents, $1 or $2. The results of the study suggest that reducing the cost of testing to 20 cents would be a more effective way of increasing the number of drivers with BAC>.05 who test themselves, rather than committing resources to promotion. The greatest benefit cost ratios are obtained by using twenty cent machines: the estimated BCR for installing 300 twenty cent machines in the 150 highest volume liquor establishments is 1.41 if the net machine cost per month is $120. All other combinations of cost of testing and net machine cost per month lead to BCRs which are not statistically greater than 1.00. In addition, there may be some smaller volume establishments with higher than average usage rates for which installation of twenty cent machines might result in a BCR significantly greater than one. To maximise the number of tests and thus the benefits in terms of road safety and commercial viability, there is a need to carefully target particular types of venues and locations for installation of BTMs.