Drunken driving is often associated with a variety of problems of the offender, such as alcohol, socioeconomical, medical, criminal, difficulties and the like. Therefore, it seems probable that drunken drivers are in a greater mortal danger than the average population. This hypothesis was investigated in this study by applying a dual approach. In the first part mortality of the drivers who had been convicted for drunken driving (1972-1992), and who had died during a certain period after that (1.5-13.5 years) was investigated in five submaterials. The total of the deceased was 266 males and 7 females. In the second part prevalence of drunken driving and mortality of the 15-74 year-old male population deceased in male population deceased in Finland in December 1992 was investigated. The total of this material was 1195. The official national cause-of-death statistics were applied as reference materials. The results show a significant relationship between excess mortality, premature, nonnatural deaths often associated with alcohol problems and previous conviction for drunken driving. This suggests that conviction for drunken driving is a significant marker of an adverse prognosis for survival. (A)
Samenvatting