Opportunities for preventing impaired driving and riding with and impaired driver: a qualitative study of youth experiences during and after high school

Despite greatly reduced roadway travel during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, alcohol and drug use among seriously and fatally injured roadway users in the U.S. increased in 2020. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. youth. As travel resumes to pre-pandemic levels, it remains essential to identify novel strategies to prevent driving while impaired (DWI) and riding with an impaired driver (RWI). This qualitative study explored how youth avoid DWI and RWI during and after high school to inform prevention efforts.