CONTROLLED STUDIES ON AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS IN NEW YORK CITY

A CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF FIFTY FATAL PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS OCCURRING IN MANHATTAN IN NEW YORK CITY DURING THE SUMMER OF 1959 WERE STUDIES. THESE ACCIDENTS WERE RANDOMLY SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE BOROUGH IN BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS NEIGHBORHOODS AND OCCURRED ON BOTH CITY STREETS AND MAJOR TRAFFIC ARTERIES. TO OBTAIN A RECORD OF POPULATION RISK AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, AN INTERVIEW TEAM RETURNED TO EACH ACCIDENT LOCATION ON A SUBSEQUENT DATE, ON THE SAME DAY OF THE WEEK AND SAME HOUR OF THE DAY. INTERVIEWERS STOPPED THE FIRST FOUR PEDESTRIANS OF THE SAME SEX AS THE DECEASED PASSING THE ACCIDENT SITE. QUESTIONS ASKED INCLUDE PLACE OF BIRTH, BOROUGH OF RESIDENCE, LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN MANHATTAN (IF APPLICABLE), AGE, OCCUPATION, MARITAL STATUS AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND. EACH PEDESTRIAN WAS ASKED TO PROVIDE A BREATH SAMPLE FOR ALCOHOL CONTENT ANALYSIS. SOME PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT VICTIMS AND CONTROL SUBJECTS SIMILARLY AT RISK AT THE SAME SITE ARE: TOTALLY INJURED PEDESTRIANS AVERAGED 58.8 YEARS OLD; THE CONTROL SUBJECTS AVERAGED 41.6. HALF OF ALL FATALLY INJURED PEDESTRIANS WERE KILLED WITHIN 1,500 FEET OF THEIR OWN HOME. INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNMARRIED, WIDOWED, AND DIVORCED GROUPS WERE OVERLY REPRESENTED IN THE FATALLY INJURED GROUP. THE SINGLE MOST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FATALLY INJURED GROUP AND THEIR SITE-MATCHED CONTROLS WAS IN BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE PEDESTRIANS KILLED HAD SOME ALCOHOL IN BLOOD AND BRAIN TISSUE AND ONE-THIRD HAD LEVELS WELL IN EXCESS OF 150 MG/100 ML. IN CONTRAST, 66 PERCENT OF THE SITE-MATCHED CONTROLS OF THESE CASES HAD NO ALCOHOL WHATEVER ON ANALYSIS OF THE BREATH SPECIMENS OBTAINED AT INTERVIEW AND ONLY 5 PERCENT HAD ALCOHOL EXCEEDING 150 MG/100 ML. THIS TYPE OF METHODOLOGY WAS EMPLOYED TO GATHER DRIVER ACCIDENT INFORMATION. SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS WERE: STATISTICALLY, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN AGE BETWEEN FATALLY INJURED DRIVERS AND THEIR UNINVOLVED CONTROLS. EIGHTY ONE PERCENT OF THE CASE DRIVERS WERE KILLED IN THE BOROUGHS IN WHICH THEY LIVED. UNMARRIED, WIDOWED AND DIVORCED PERSONS WERE AGAIN SIGNIFICANTLY OVER REPRESENTED. AGE OF VEHICLE WAS NOT A FACTOR. BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT WAS AGAIN THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTOR. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 1, 13 Pp, 2 FIG, 9 TAB
• Corporate Authors:

  Acta Medecinae Legalis Et Socialis

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Mccarroll, J R
  • HADDON, W
• Publication Date: 1963-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Blood alcohol levels; Fatalities; Interviewing; Marital status; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223142
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 3 1970 12:00AM