The Correlation Between Police Presence, Targeted Interventions, and Alcoholimpaired Driving Resulting in Personal Injury Accidents in Hungary
The Correlation Between Police Presence, Targeted Interventions, and Alcoholimpaired Driving Resulting in Personal Injury Accidents in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: In Hungary, the visible presence of police in public spaces is a common tool for maintaining traffic safety. While previousstudies have primarily focused on the amount of time police spend in public areas, they often neglect the significance of targetedinterventions aimed at specific violations. This study examines both aspects: the general police presence and targeted measures.It analyses the relationship between police visibility and the number of alcohol-related road traffic accidents involving personalinjuries, as well as the correlation between alcohol-related accidents and the number of breathalyser tests conducted. Nationalleveldata from 2019 and 2024 are used for the analysis. Findings indicate a strong positive correlation between time spentin public areas and the number of alcohol-related personal injury road traffic accidents (the average correlation coefficient at thecounty level is 0.7985), suggesting that visibility alone may not effectively reduce accidents. In addition, a weak positive correlationis observed between alcohol-related accidents and the number of breathalyser tests (the average correlation coefficient is 0.0338),indicating that targeted controls have a weak, almost negligible impact. There is a weak correlation (on average 0.3334) betweenthe number of targeted inspections (breathalyser tests) and the number of positive results. The weak positive relationship maystem, on the one hand, from the high level of latency characteristic of the offence under examination and, on the other hand, fromother contributing factors. The results indicate that the most common, yet least effective, tool for addressing the problem is theapplication or increase of general police presence. Similarly, targeted interventions do not appear to have a measurable impacton the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents involving personal injury.

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