The nexus between neighborhood socioeconomic environment and substance-positive driving behavior: A spatial analysis in the Chicago metropolitan area.

INTRODUCTION: Numerous public health and transportation studies have established a strong link between low-socioeconomic status and impaired driving. However, few analyze how a neighborhood's socioeconomic environment influences individual driving behavior.

METHOD: To address this gap, we conducted a spatial econometric analysis at the neighborhood level, assessing the impact of socioeconomic conditions on alcohol and psychoactive drug-related crashes within zip code areas that are neighbored to each other. We merged hospital and crash data to create a dataset of drivers involved in substance-positive crashes through probabilistic data linkage. Socioeconomic factors including poverty, unemployment, income, and education were measured at the zip code level.

RESULTS: The spatial modeling results indicate that adverse socioeconomic conditions were associated with higher rates of substance-positive driving crashes in the zip code area and its neighboring zip code areas. Specifically, higher poverty rates were linked to a rise in substance-positive driving crashes in neighboring zip code areas. In comparison, a zip code area with a higher unemployment rate was linked with lower rates of such crashes. Additionally, a higher share of bachelor's degree holders was associated with fewer substance-positive driving, while median income shows no effect.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: These findings highlight the need for targeted substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, alongside workforce development initiatives and increased access to supportive resources, in low-socioeconomic areas as part of road safety programs.