A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON ALCOHOL-INVOLVED CRASHES IN WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN

A THREE-YEAR ALCOHOL SAFETY ACTION PROGRAM IS BEING CONDUCTED, WITH FOCUS ON ALCOHOL-INVOLVED CRASHES IN WASHTENAW COUNTY, IN A SELECTED CONTROL COUNTY, AND IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN OVERALL. CONCLUSIONS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: (1) WASHTENAW COUNTY SEEMS TO BE EXPERIENCING A DISPROPORTIONATELY LARGE NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS, WHICH IS PROBABLY A CONSEQUENCE OF THE RELATIVE YOUTH OF THE COUNTY'S POPULATION. (2) ACCIDENT SEVERITY INITIALLY INDICATES THAT CRASHES OCCURRING IN WASHTENAW COUNTY RESULT IN INJURY MORE FREQUENTLY THAN DO CRASHES OCCURRING IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS, ALTHOUGH REPORTING DIFFERENCES MAY ACCOUNT FOR THIS CONCLUSION. (3) NON-ALCOHOL RELATED CRASHES INCREASE DURING RUSH HOURS, WHILE ALCOHOL RELATED CRASHES PEAK BETWEEN 8 PM AND 4 AM. (4) DIFFERENCES IN AGE ARE PROBABLY NOT AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN DISTINGUISHING ALCOHOL-INVOLVED CRASHES FROM THOSE IN WHICH ALCOHOL IS NOT INVOLVED. (5) WOMEN WHO DRINK AND DRIVE ARE ABOUT TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT THAN MEN, WHICH MAY BE DUE TO THEIR RELATIVE LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN DRINKING/DRIVING.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 8 Pp, 5 Fig, 4 TAB
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Safety Research Institute

  /Hit Lab Reports
  ,   United States 
• Authors:
  • Epstein, J D
• Publication Date: 1971-8

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Alcohols; Crash rates; Crash severity; Crashes; Drunk drivers; Drunk driving; Gender; Night; Peak hour traffic; Peak periods; Time
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223623
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 22 1971 12:00AM