INVOLVEMENT OF ALCOHOL, CARBON MONOXIDE AND OTHER DRUGS IN TRAFFIC FATALITIES
This report presents the results of a three-year study of the involvement of drugs and carbon monoxide in automobile operators and pedestrians killed in six counties of North Carolina. It reveals that the major drug detected in operators and pedestrians fatally injured in automobile crashes was ethyl alcohol. Drugs other than alcohol most frequently encountered were the sedative hypnotics which were represented by the barbiturates; the analgesics, represented by propoxyphene, salicylates and phenacetin; the antiepileptic drug, diphenylhydantoin; the antiarrhythmic drug, quinidine and lastly, the antimalarial drug and also a common ingredient in tonic water and "street" heroin, quinine. Microscopic examination indicated that the livers of at least half of the drivers and pedestrians showed evidence that they had been chronic alcoholic. This indicates a gross over-representation of alcoholics among the driver crash victim and the pedestrian crash victim populations. /Author/
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Supplemental Notes:
- Proceeding of the 6th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety.
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Corporate Authors:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Turk, R F
- McBay, A J
- Hudson, P
- Bullaboy, M M
- Conference:
- Publication Date: 1974
Media Info
- Features: Appendices; Photos; Tables;
- Pagination: p. 597-606
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alcohols; Carbon monoxide; Crash victims; Drugs; Ethanol; Fatalities
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00132146
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
- Report/Paper Numbers: Proceeding
- Contract Numbers: FA-308
- Files: TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Nov 23 1977 12:00AM