This paper reports work to document, as fully as possible, known information, mostly from the USA, about `hard core' individuals, who drive after consuming large amounts of alcohol. It summarises the authors' major report on this subject, which included original data analyses, supplemented by findings from other published research. Extensive use was made of data from the USA's Fatal Accident Reporting System, primarily because it contains (1) reliable information on the presence of alcohol in people involved in road accidents; (2) many cases, thus providing a large enough sample for stable estimates when data from various subgroups are examined. Figure 1 gives the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) distribution among fatally injured drivers in the USA for 1990, and Figure 2 shows relative risk of a fatal crash as a function of BAC. Some statistics are given about the drinking problems and driving problems of fatally injured drivers who had high BACs. For example, 47% of all fatally injured drivers with a previous drink-driving conviction in the USA had a BAC of at least 200mg/100ml. A four-point overall countermeasure strategy, to address the problem of high BAC drivers, is outlined, that embraces a variety of tactics including primary, secondary and tertiary programmes.
Abstract