Recent Latino immigrants to Miami-Dade County, Florida: Impaired driving behaviors during the initial years after immigration and the pandemic lockdown

Abstract

Introduction: Typically, recent Latino immigrants (RLIs) experience a decline in driving while impaired (DWI) rates soon after immigration, largely due to limited access to vehicles. Such a transitional period offers a window of opportunity for intervention for RLIs at risk of engaging in DWI and riding with an impaired driver (RWID). This manuscript examines the rates of DWI, RWID, and driving while impaired by drugs (DWID) among RLIs upon arrival to Miami/Dade County (MDC), Florida. Methods: Collected between 2018 and 2021, data originates from a longitudinal study examining self-reported drinking and driving trajectories among 540 RLIs to MDC. At baseline retrospective pre-immigration data were obtained simultaneously with first-year post-immigration data. Two follow-up surveys conducted one year apart (N=531 and N=522), collect data on RLIs initial 3 years in the United States. Results: Pre- to post-immigration trajectories for mean number of drinks per month (d/m) revealed a “U-shaped” curve: 18.3 d/m, 13.9 d/m, 10.4 d/m, 12.9 d/m, and 16.4 d/m, from pre-immigration (T0), first year (T1), second year before COVID (T2-BC) and during the pandemic lockdown (T2-DC), and third year in the United States (T3). The use of illicit drugs showed a constant decline, from 14.6% at T0 to 2.1% at T3. The prevalence of DWI at T1 was significantly lower compared to rates in the country of origin (T0) and continued declining through T3. DWID rates remained low across the assessment period. RWID was significantly more prevalent than DWI across all study time points. Conclusions: Although the relatively low prevalence of DWI, drug use, and DWID among the RLIs during their initial years in the United States is encouraging, the surge in alcohol use at T3 warns about the need for interventions to prevent increases in DWI. Practical applications: Findings from the present study point to an opportunity to develop early interventions to prevent the escalation of impaired driving among RLIs to MDC.