U.S. trends in late-night weekend alcohol-related fatal crashes and drinking and driving

The proportion of U.S. drivers in fatal crashes with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.08 per cent or higher declined substantially from 1982 through the mid-1990s but changed little since, whereas periodic national roadside surveys reported large declines in alcohol use. This paper examines possible explanations for the apparent disconnect between trends in drinking and driving and trends in the proportion of drivers with BACs greater than or equal to 0.08 per cent in fatal crashes. The study looked at data from national roadside surveys conducted on Friday and Saturday late nights (10 p.m.-3 a.m.) in 1986, 1996, and 2007 and data on fatal crashes for these times and years. Differences in the roadside survey samples and protocols were examined, as were trends in rates of BACs among driver sub-groups in the roadside surveys and FARS. Even after adjustments to the roadside surveys for differences in sampling and weighting, there were large declines in drivers with BACs over 0.08 per cent not reflected in rates of drivers with BACs over 0.08 per cent in fatal crashes. Different methodologies of roadside surveys do not appear to explain why alcohol impairment in fatal crashes has declined much less than the rate of drinking drivers in general. Trends generally were similar for sub-groups of drivers in roadside surveys and in fatal crashes. The fact that drinking drivers have been slower to buckle up appears to account for some of the discrepancy in trends, but there also appear to be other unknown factors.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.icadtsinternational.com/files/documents/2013_087.pdf
• 
• Authors:
  • McCartt, A T
  • Farmer, C M
  • Eichelberger, A H
• Conference:
  • International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (T2013), 20th, 2013, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• Publication Date: 2013-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 532-7
• Monograph Title: 20th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety Conference Proceedings, 25-28 August 2013, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol use; Crash analysis; Drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; High risk drivers; Intoxication
• Uncontrolled Terms: Safe systems (road users)
• ATRI Terms: Alcohol usage; Crash analysis; Crash proneness; Drink driving; Fatality rate
• ITRD Terms: 1553: Blood alcohol content; 1602: Fatality; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01500774
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 5 2013 8:47AM