Alcohol use among injured sets of drivers and passengers:​ five years later and the wrong occupant is still driving

Soderstrom, Carl A.; Dischinger, Patricia C.; Kerns, Timothy J.

Affiliations

¹Department of Surgery, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland USA

²Charles McC. Mathias National Study Center for Trauma and EMS, University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland USA

Abstract

Crash report and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) data were linked for 109 injured driver/passenger pairs admitted to a Level I trauma center. Among those occupants, 47 drivers (43%) (mean BAC, 147 mg/dl) and 45 passengers (41 %) (mean BAC, 127 mg/dl) were BAC+. No occupant was BAC+ in 57 crashes (52%); both were BAC+ in 40 (37%); and only one was BAC + in 12 (11 %). When both occupants were BAC +, the driver hadthe higher BAC in 68 % of cases, and when one was BAC +, it was the driver 58 % of the time. In 6 additional alcoholrelated crashes with one driver and two passengers, the "wrong" occupant was driving on 5 occasions. Hence, in the 58 crashes involving BAC+ occupants, the least appropriate occupant was driving 67% of the time.

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
1984	Maull KI, Kinning LS, Hickman JK. Culpability and accountability of hospitalized injured alcohol-impaired drivers: a prospective study. JAMA. October 12, 1984;252(14):1880-1883.