1) The subject matter of the study is fatal single vehicle accidents in which the drivers died within fifteen minutes of the impact. 2) Carbon monoxide was found to be of negligible importance. 3) Drugs were detected in approximately twelve per cent of the cases, but the detection process was necessarily non-exhaustive. 4) Seventy-six per cent of the male victims had been drinking, seventy per cent had blood alcohol levels in excess of 10 per cent. 5) Fifty-one per cent of the female drivers had been drinking: forty per cent had blood alcohol levels of 10 per cent or more. 6) The male sample was compared with the experimental sample in the more comprehensive single car study wit respect to the variables common to the two studies. No significant differences were found; it is presumed that the drivers in the two samples are drawn from the same population. 7) Previous arrests for drunkenness and alcoholism were culled out of the criminal histories of the subjects. The average number of arrests for drunkenness and alcoholism were culled out of the criminal histories of the subjects. The average number of arrests for the these offenses was found to increase with the alcohol level, indicating habituation and problem drinking. Wide array of other criminal charges was associated with the drunkenness factor. 8) Drivers who died from a natural cause just before their accidents constituted approximately ten per cent of the cases originally selected in the field. This group consisted of middle-aged or elderly males, apparently with a strong orientation toward safety. Their involvement in single vehicle collisions raises the question of the part they play in multi-vehicle crashes. 9) All the conclusions in this interim report are subject to modification from the second year of the study. Field work will continue until October 31, 1965.
Abstract