The injured alcohol-impaired driver:​ a prospective study of culpability and accountability

Maull, Kimball I.; Kinning, Linda S.; Hickman, Julian K.

Affiliations

¹Professor of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

²Research Assistant, Department of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

³Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, Department of Transportation Safety, Richmond, Virginia

Abstract

During the three-year period ending October, 1982, driver records, crash reports and blood alcohol concentrations were correlated on 56 impaired drivers injured seriously enough to warrant hospital admission. Blood alcohol concentration exceeded 0.15 vol. % in all patients. Despite a high level of suspicion of alcohol involvement (82%) and assessment of culpability (98%) by the law enforcement officer at the scene, there were no DUI convictions among this problem drinker population.

Injury appears to offer additional protection from enforcement of DUI statutes and, if the patient survives his injuries, allows the offender to resume driving without interdiction

Cited Works (2)

Year	Entry
1981	Terhune KW, Fell JC. The role of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs in the accidents of injured drivers. In: 24th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 1-3, 1981; San Francisco, CA.117-132.
1982	House EG, Waller PF, Stewart JR. Blood alcohol level and injury in traffic crashes. In: 26th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 4-6, 1982; Ottawa, ON.349-373.

Cited By (1)

Year	Entry
1992	McLaughlin JG, Smith RJ, Mattice CR, Scholten DJ. Hospitalization and injury influence the prosecution of drunk drivers. In: 36th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 1992; Portland, OR.412-423.