This paper presents the results of an analysis of the traffic and criminal convictions of all drivers, involved in fatal road accidents in New Zealand in 1986. The analysis studies the traffic convictions of drivers before their fatal accidents, and of the next four years' convictions of surviving drivers. Data were obtained from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) fatal accident file, recording data on people, traffic engineering, and severity of injury. As these data were known to lack blood alcohol concentration (BAC) values, the author matched them by name with the post mortem file held by his own laboratory. Data on marital status and ethnicity were obtained by matching by name with the Department of Health's mortality file. Data on traffic and criminal convictions were obtained from New Zealand's central law enforcement computer. The paper contains nine charts, showing the results of various analyses of fatal accidents in relation to drink and driving, including proportions of drinking drivers in these accidents and proportions of drivers at fault with drink-driving convictions. In some groups, high proportions of drivers had previous drink-drive, traffic or criminal convictions, but there seemed to be little correlation with previous convictions for speeding, whether or not it was excessive.
Abstract