Risky Places: Alcohol-serving Businesses as Risky Places
Alcohol abuse has long been associated with health problems and social ills including spousal and child abuse, crime and motor vehicle crashes. This lecture will examine the relationship of businesses that serve alcohol for consumption with crime and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. Using data from Houston, Texas, serious crimes committed in 2016 and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2012-14 were examined in relationship to alcohol-serving businesses in the city. The businesses were concentrated towards the center of the city and also in clusters. Eighty-five clusters of alcohol-serving businesses were identified, covering 42% of the businesses but in only 3% of the city’s area. These clusters contained approximately 14% of serious crimes and 17% of alcohol-related vehicle crashes. A higher concentration of both types of events occurred late in the evening and after Midnight. The data were allocated to roadway segments and a spatial regression model showed that, controlling for the type of roadway, the more alcohol-serving businesses there were on a segment, the greater the number of alcohol-related vehicle crashes that occurred. Further, the relationship was exponential, suggesting that the concentration of alcohol-serving businesses increases the likelihood of alcohol-related vehicle crashes (and most likely serious crimes, too). Possible reasons for the concentration effect are discussed and policy implications are outlined.