ALCOHOL AND OTHER FACTORS IN CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY FATALITIES

DATA ARE PRESENTED ABOUT ALCOHOL IN SPECIFIC TYPES OF CRASHES AND ABOUT THE RELATION BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS AMONG PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED. ONE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER IS TO DESCRIBE WHAT ASSOCIATIONS EXIST BETWEEN FREQUENT SOCIAL DRINKING THAT OCCURS DURING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON AND THE PATTERN OF HIGHWAY FATALITIES AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. CORONERS' RECORDS WERE STUDIED FOR 2069 HIGHWAY FATALITIES COMPRISING ALL SUCH DEATHS THAT OCCURRED IN ALAMEDA AND SACRAMENTO COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA, DURING THE MONTHS OF JANUARY THROUGH MARCH AND OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER FOR 1960-1967, AND IN SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY DURING THESE MONTHS FOR THE YEARS 1950-1967. BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION, SOCIAL AND MEDICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERSON AND TYPE OF ACCIDENT WERE STUDIED FOR 1,251 HIGHWAY FATALITIES AGE FIFTEEN OR OLDER WHO SURVIVED LESS THAN SIX HOURS. THESE COMPRISED ALL SUCH DEATHS AMONG THE 2069 CONSECUTIVE HIGHWAY FATALITIES. BETWEEN 35 AND 69 PERCENT, DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF CRASH, HAD ALCOHOL IN THEIR BLOOD, USUALLY IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS. ALCOHOL WAS FOUND MOST OFTEN AND IN HIGHEST CONCENTRATIONS IN FATALLY INJURED PERSONS WHO WERE AGE TWENTY TO FIFTY-NINE, MALES, NEGROES, SINGLE, DIVORCED OR SEPARATED, OR WHO HAD FATTY CHANGES OF THE LIVER OR PREVIOUS ARRESTS. HOWEVER, THESE VARIABLES FREQUENTLY WERE INTERRELATED. NO DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND BETWEEN CHRISTMAN SEASON AND OTHER WEEKS IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FATALITIES OCCURRING. FEWER FATALITIES DURING THIS TWO-WEEK PERIOD HAD ALCOHOL IN THEIR BLOOD, AND NO DIFFERENCE WAS OBSERVED AMONG THOSE WHO DID HAVE ALCOHOL IN A DISTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION OR IN THE PROPORTION WITH FATTY CHANGES OF THE LIVER OR PREVIOUS ARRESTS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE PROBABLE INCREASE IN DRINKING AND DRIVING DURING THIS SEASON DOES NOT ALTER THE USUAL PREPONDERANCE OF PROBLEM DRINKERS AMONG THOSE KILLED IN CRASHES INVOLVING ALCOHOL.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • pp 3-19, 13 TAB, 18 REF
• Authors:
  • Waller, J A
  • King, E M
  • Nielson, G
  • Turkel, H W
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Serial:
  • American Association for Auto Medicine, Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Alcohols; Blood alcohol levels; Crash causes; Drivers; Drunk drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Gender; Holidays; Human characteristics; Social factors; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver characteristics
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223222
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 22 1970 12:00AM