THE INCIDENCE OF ALCOHOL AMONGST DRIVERS INVOLVED IN ROAD ACCIDENTS IS WELL KNOWN. HOWEVER, WHILE PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS ANNUALLY ACCOUNT FOR SOME 20 PER CENT OF VICTORIAN ROAD FATALITIES, AND SOME 10 PER CENT OF INJURIES, VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED ON THE INCIDENCE OF ALCOHOL IN ACCIDENTS INVOLVING THIS LARGEST SINGLE GROUP OF UNPROTECTED ROAD- USERS. THIS PAPER PRESENTS A LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE FEW STUDIES UNDERTAKEN IN THIS REGARD. IT THEN DETAILS A STUDY OF VICTORIAN PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR THE YEARS 1977-79 WHICH ESTABLISHES THE EXTENT OF ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT AMONGST THE PEDESTRIANS IN THESE ACCIDENTS. IT IS SEEN THAT A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF ACCIDENT- INVOLVED PEDESTRIANS HAVE BAC'S ABOVE 0.15 PER CENT THAN DO ACCIDENT- INVOLVED DRIVERS OR MOTOR- CYCLISTS. AS EXPECTED, ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT IS GREATEST FOR MALE PEDESTRIANS 'AFTER DARK'. ON THE BASIS OF THE STUDY RESULTS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIONS ARE MADE. THE NEED TO GATHER PEDESTRIAN EXPOSURE DATA IS STRESSED IN ORDER TO MORE FULLY APPRECIATE THE EXTENT OF THE PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT PROBLEM (A). THE NUMBER OF THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE IS IRRD NO 255423.
Samenvatting