Blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers in the United States were used to examine the current and historical distributions of BACs and the characteristics of fatally injured drivers by BAC categories, including those with very high BACs. All categories of illegal BACs (0.08 percent or higher) declined substantially from 1982 to 2002, and declines were similar across BAC categories. Among illegally impaired drivers, the prevalence of several driver and crash characteristics increased systematically, but gradually, with increasing BACs. This study does not support the claim that “hard core drinking drivers” have become a larger part of the problem and have been unaffected by general deterrent approaches. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting