It is unclear whether the Bob campaign contributed to a reduction in alcohol use among experienced and young drivers. Indeed, an evaluation of the campaign's effect on crashes is lacking. Partly because most campaigns were accompanied by other activities (such as intensified enforcement at the time), the effect of the campaign itself is hard to determine.
The Bob campaign is a 1995 idea from the Belgian Institute for Road Safety, now the Vias Institute [45]. The campaign aims to get people to agree on who will drive home sober before drinking alcohol. The Bob campaign started in the Netherlands at the end of 2001, and in 2015 the concept was extended to all drivers, including solo drivers.
Reviews of 'designated driver' studies (the Bob drivers) do not draw conclusions on the effectiveness of these programmes in reducing drink-driving or alcohol-related crashes, as the studies often do not provide sufficient evidence [46]. Similarly, a review of American and Canadian studies on the effectiveness of alternative transport programmes for people going out on the town (including 'designated driver' programmes), did not provide a clear conclusion on the effectiveness of these programmes [47].
Before and after the campaign period, a survey was conducted in the Netherlands, asking people about their views on drink-driving [48]. An important goal of the Bob campaign is that more people know that you can also be a Bob when driving alone. A decreasing trend in the number of people who know this can be seen during the multi-year campaign (from 76% at the end of 2018 to 67% at the end of 2020). After the campaign, drivers do agree slightly more often with the statement "you should not drink alcohol if you have to drive later on" (from 84% to 89%), but the trend over the years is slightly negative from 95% at the end of 2018 to 89% in January 2021. Novice drivers are actually less likely to agree with this statement after the campaign (from 83% to 66%).
