ALCOHOL AND ROAD TRAUMA IN AUSTRALIA

This article presents statistics which highlight the relationship between alcohol and road trauma in Australia and describes legislation introduced to reduce the problem. Over half of the driver fatalities and almost half of every other kind of serious road casualty arise from crashes where at least one driver has a blood alcohol level (bal) over the legal limit of 0.05 g/100 ml. Victorian studies show that almost 50% of the adult pedestrians killed or injured had been drinking. The risk of a pedestrian becoming involved in an accident becomes significant at a bal between 0.08 and 0.12 g/ml. Action to reduce drunken driving depends largely on legislative initiatives. Countermeasures include a pe se limit of 0.05 g/100 ml in all but 2 Australian states. Compulsory alcohol testing of accident victims, random breath testing and heavy penalties. The measures vary from state to state, and there are still some states and territories resisting some or all of these measures. Statistics show that there has been a decrease in alcohol related accidents since 1977. Those states such as Victoria, with the most comprehensive countermeasures, and New South Wales and tasmania, with the highest rates of random breath testing have the lowest levels of such accidents. A package of strategies to tackle the drink driving problem nationwide is proposed, including more emphasis on education and advertising campaigns. (TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11198060
• Authors:
  • TRINCA, G W
• Publication Date: 1989

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 29-41
• Serial:
  • Journal of traffic medicine
  • Volume: 17
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine
  • ISSN: 0345-5564

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol breath tests; Blood alcohol levels; Education; Fatalities; Injuries; Intoxication; Law enforcement; Legislation; Penalties; Prevention; Publicity; Random sampling; Safety; Statistics
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• ITRD Terms: 1661: Accident prevention; 1542: Alcohol test; 8006: Australia; 1553: Blood alcohol content; 2231: Drunkenness; 2284: Education; 1534: Enforcement (law); 1602: Fatality; 2163: Injury; 1556: Legislation; 1502: Penalty; 8573: Publicity; 6553: Sample (stat); 6555: Statistics
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00499162
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 30 1990 12:00AM