The purpose of this study was to determine the responsibility of drivers killed in road traffic accidents for the purpose of establishing if drug use by drivers contributes to accident causation. Responsibility analysis was performed. The basis of responsibility analysis was to determine the responsibility of drivers after a review of eight mitigating factors. An index of responsibility was then determined using predetermined scoring guidelines. Drivers were then grouped into one of 3 categories - culpable, contributory and not culpable. The proportion of drivers who were culpable were then calculated for various drug groups including the drug-free group. This proportion was called the culpability ratio. Effects of drugs on accident risk would be expected to show up as an increase in this culpability ratio over the ratio obtained for the drug-free group. Drivers with drug concentrations higher than what could be regarded as low therapeutic tended to be culpable. All drivers considered to have drug concentrations much higher than what could be regarded as reflecting therapeutic use, i.e., `non-therapeutic' were either culpable or contributory in the accident. It is these same drivers that are more likely to be visably impaired. (A)
Samenvatting