As countermeasures against drink driving become more successful, so the relative importance of the problem of alcohol and the pedestrian tends to increase. This report presents the results from three separate, but linked studies, on various aspects of alcohol and adult pedestrians in the West Midlands and Cardiff. A study was undertaken of fatally injured adult (over 16 years) pedestrians who died in the West Midlands over a seven-year period 1990-1996. With the permission of HM Coroners, fatal accident files were searched to extract the relevant information. A study was undertaken of all adult (16 years and over) pedestrian casualties taken to the Emergency Unit of Cardiff Royal Infirmary during the period 3 May 1997 to 22 February 1999. Roadside surveys, although widely used for assessing the level of driving after drinking, have rarely been used with pedestrians. Over an eight-month period, five sites in Cardiff were intensively surveyed between 5pm and midnight on all days of the week. Over 1,600 adults were interviewed. BAC readings were obtained from 96% of those interviewed. The proportion of pedestrians who had been drinking (BAC greater than 9mg/100ml) was heavily dependent upon time of day, ranging from 4% at 17:00 to 71% at 23:00 hours. The number of adult pedestrian fatalities in Britain is declining. However, the BAC distribution of those fatalities who were tested for alcohol showed no significant change since the earlier study undertaken in the mid 1970s. Amongst injured pedestrians (in Cardiff), the overall proportion of pedestrians who had been drinking was higher than amongst the fatalities in the West Midlands. This result may be a function of the different age structures of the two samples; the fatal sample being generally older. The results of previous studies augmented by some evidence from the present studies of both fatal and non-fatal casualties suggest that, for males at least, the risk of accident-involvement begins to increase dramatically at levels above 150mg/100ml. The footpath study was the first of its kind in Britain. It provides a baseline of information on the incidence of non-accident-involved pedestrians in a city centre during the hours 5pm to midnight. Time of day is the most powerful predictor of whether or not a pedestrian has been drinking and the likely BAC. Approaching midnight, nearly three-quarters of those tested had been drinking. The effect of countermeasures against drinking and driving was clear. Over a quarter of pedestrians who had been drinking had taken the conscious decision not to drive to and from their drinking venue. (Author/publisher)
Abstract