Abstract
Police assessment of alcohol impairment was compared with blood alcohol analyses on 1, 191 driver fatalities in Sweden during 1982, 1985 and 1988. Alcohol was detected in twice as high a proportion of victims (23%) compared to police assessment of inebriation (12%). The mean blood alcohol concentration of victims with alcohol detectable in blood and considered sober by the police was 1.4 o/oo. To avoidbiases regarding e.g. sex and age, we suggest that alcohol statistics on traffic fatalities should be based on blood alcohol analyses performed on all fatalities and that the present statistics, based onpolice assessment only, should be abolished. (A).