ALCOHOLISM AND TRAFFIC DEATHS
BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELS, LIVER FINDINGS AND RECORDS OF PRIOR ARRESTS FOR PUBLIC INTOXICATION WERE COMPARED FOR 208 DRIVER AND PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. ALL PERSONS UNDER 15 AND MOST 65 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER WERE PEDESTRIANS WHEREAS DRIVERS PREDOMINATED AMONG THOSE 15 OR 64 YEARS OLD. MALES OUTNUMBERED FEMALES. THIRTY-SEVEN CENT OF THE DEATHS WITHIN 6 HR AFTER THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN DRINKING BEFORE DEATH AND 71% OF THESE HAD LEVELS OF 150 MG/100 ML OR HIGHER. AMONG THOSE 25 YR OF AGE OR OLDER WHO DIED WITHIN 6 HR AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND WHO HAD NO ALCOHOL IN THE BLOOD 78% HAD NO ARRESTS OR CIRRHOSIS, 15% HAD CIRRHOSIS ONLY, 15% HAD ARRESTS ONLY, AND 23% HAD BOTH. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE MAJORITY OF DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS INVOLVED IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AFTER DRINKING ARE NOT SOCIAL DRINKERS. HOWEVER, AMONG YOUNGER DRIVERS SOCIAL DRINKING APPEARS TO PRESENT MORE OF A PROBLEM. GREATER ATTENTION MUST BE GIVEN TO THE FACT THAT MOST FATALLY INJURIED PEDESTRIANS ARE HANDICAPPED BY EXTREME YOUTH, INTOXICATION OR OLD AGE AND THAT MORE APPROPRIATE METHODS FOR SEPARATING THESE PERSONS FROM TRAFFIC WILL HAVE TO BE DEVELOPED. ALSO, IT IS THOUGHT THAT GREATER SUCESS WILL BE ACHIEVED IN THE PREVENTION OF DRINKING ACCIDENTS BY MORE EMPHASIS ON IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLISM AMONG FIRST-OFFENSE DRUNKEN DRIVERS AND LESS ON THE PUNITIVE APPROACH. /SRIS/
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00284793
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 275, No 10, PP 532-536
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Authors:
- Waller, J A
- Turkel, H W
- Publication Date: 1966
Media Info
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Serial:
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
- ISSN: 0028-4793
- EISSN: 1533-4406
- Serial URL: http://www.nejm.org/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Age; Alcoholism; Blood alcohol levels; Crash causes; Drunk drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Gender; Pedestrians; Traffic crashes
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00220366
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Aug 17 1994 12:00AM