Preparations for the ICADTS 50th anniversary, jubilee International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, T2000 in Stockholm are well under way. The dates for the conference are May 22 - 26, 2000. The Stockholm City Conference Centre will be the venue of the conference.
The call for papers has already gone out. Your abstract is due before the 1st of September, 1999. Abstracts on any aspect of alcohol, drugs and traffic safety are welcome. The topics include: epidemiology, pharmacology and toxicology, driver characteristics, driving performance, prevention, and rehabilitation. The abstract should be in English with a maximum size of 200 words. Please check the web site for the proper format. Acceptance of abstracts will be forwarded before November 1, 1999. The date for receipt of the full paper is December 31, 1999. The proceedings will be available before the conference.
T2000 has its own web site, where you will be able to find new information about the conference and about Sweden and Stockholm, which we hope will attract your interest and help you plan your trip. You will find us at http://www.ICADTS2000.com. The conference center can be found at http://www.stoccc.se.
We urge you to start thinking about what to present at T2000 and to mark the dates for our Jubilee Conference.
ICADTS member Johan de Gier recently published two reports regarding drugs and driving. The first report is entitled Survey on Warning Systems for Medicinal Drugs Affecting Driving Performance. The report summarized the reaction of regulatory authorities to a scheme for categorizing the potential of medicinal drugs to impair driving skills. European Ministers of Transport resolved in 1993 that European Union member states should encourage the use of warning symbols on medicines likely to impair driving. Three different warning symbols have been proposed:
This warning system has not been implemented, despite the fact that, on average, 10% of the adult driver population in the EU use impairing medicines. The survey examines the current opinion of the responsible authorities.
One consistent comment made in the survey was the belief that the current system of assigning warnings based on the description of side effects provided by the drug manufacturer were sufficient. Another finding was that authorities indicated that terms such as "minor," "moderate," and "severe" need to be defined.
The report concludes that current procedures for categorizing levels of risk of impairment are not necessarily consistent and the wording of current warnings is often vague or misleading. The report provides several recommendations for improving the current status of drug labeling in the EU.
The second report is entitled Review of Investigations of Prevalence of Illicit Drugs in Road Traffic in Different European Countries. Dr. de Gier carried out a literature review to determine prevalence figures from thirteen European countries. The report cautions that the studies examined used different sample definitions and data collection methodologies, making comparisons across different countries inappropriate.
The report concludes that in the general driver population, the prevalence of illicit drug use falls in the range of 1 to 5 percent, with cannabis and opiates being most frequently observed. Licit impairing drugs are found in from 5 to 15 percent of drivers, with benzodiazepines being most frequently detected. The prevalence of the combination of illicit drugs with alcohol is more common than the combination of licit drugs with alcohol, probably because patients tend to be aware of the impairing effects of this combination.
Among collision-involved drivers, the prevalence of illicit drug use ranges from 10 to 25 percent, with cannabis and opiates predominating. The prevalence of combinations of drugs and of alcohol use in drug-positive drivers ranged from 27 to 65 percent. The report stresses that the prevalence of drug-positive drivers does not indicate whether the use of drugs is a serious safety problem. A case-controlled study is necessary to draw definitive conclusions about the role of drugs in traffic crashes.
For a copy of either report, contact Dr. de Gier at DGC, Vinkenslag 32, 4901 AP Oosterhout, The Netherlands. Each report costs $25.
A study of speed risks in 60 km/h zones on Australian roads provides striking evidence of the effects of small speed changes on casualty risks, and the potential safety benefits of improved speed management. The report, conducted for the Australian Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS), found that in urban areas, traveling just 5 km/h over the speed limit in a 60 km/h zone doubles the risk of involvement in a serious crash. The risk keeps on doubling for every additional 5 km/h. These risk increases are directly comparable to those associated with alcohol. For example, traveling at 70 km/h involves the same relative risk increase as a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08. The study also found that speeding causes significantly more casualty crashes that alcohol impaired driving in these zones.
The report, Traveling Speed and the Risk of Crash Involvement, was produced by the NHMRC Road Accident Research Unit, University of Adelaide. It can be obtained from FORS at Email: forspublications@dot.gov.au, or downloaded from http://raru.adelaide.edu.au/speed.
On July 1, 1996, Florida instituted a graduated licensing program for drivers younger than age 18. For the first 3 months, holders of learner's licenses are not allowed to drive at all between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.; thereafter, they may drive until 10 p.m. Learner's licenses must be held for 6 months prior to eligibility for the intermediate license. Sixteen-year-old intermediate license holders are not permitted to drive unsupervised from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., 17 year-olds from I a.m. to 6 a.m. All drivers younger than 15 have strict limits on the number of traffic violations they can accumulate and, effective January 1, 1997, all drivers younger than 21 am subject to a zero tolerance law for drinking and driving.
Florida crash data for 1995-97 were obtained and compared with similar data from Alabama, a state that borders Florida but does not have graduated licensing. For 15, 16, and 17 year-olds combined, there was a 9 percent reduction in the fatal and injury crash involvement rate in Florida during 1997, the first full year of graduated licensing compared with 1995. On a percentage basis, crashes declined most among 15 year-olds, followed by 16 year-olds and then 17 year-olds. Reductions were not seen among Alabama teenagers nor among 18 year-olds in Florida. The study was conducted by Robert Ulmer and ICADTS member David Preusser of the Preusser Research Group and ICADTS members Drs. Allan Williams, Susan Ferguson and Charles Farmer of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Contact IIHS at Email: iihs@highwaysafety.org or visit their web site: http://www.highwaysafety.org.
Eighteen U.S. states currently have comprehensive graduated licensing systems and six others have partial systems. Most other states are considering graduated licensing systems during this current legislative session.
Some new resource material is now available to assist those interested in working with the states to pass this important legislation. These include (with phone contacts to obtain the material or request assistance): The American Automobile Association's Making the Case for Graduated Driver Licensing (202-942-2050), The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Saving Teenage Lives: The Case for Graduated Driver Licensing (jointly produced with the National Safety Council) (202-424-9393) and IIHS's Graduated Licensing: A Blueprint for North America (jointly produced with Traffic Injury Research Foundation) (703-247-1500). Information and assistance can also be obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board at 202-314-6170.
A paper in the January 1999 edition of the Journal of American College Health (Vol. 47) by William DeJong, PhD; and Jay A. Winsten, PhD discussed use of designated drivers by college students in the United States. A representative national sample of students attending 4-year colleges in the United States reported on whether they had served as or had ridden with a designated driver in the past 30 days and how much alcohol they had consumed the last time they used this prevention strategy.
Among drinkers (those who had consumed alcohol in the past year), 36% said they had served as a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 40% said they usually binged when they drank but had not done so the last time they served as the designated driver, with the vast majority either abstaining or having I drink. Among drinkers, 37% reported riding with a designated driver in the past 30 days; of these, 22% said they did not usually binge but did so the last time they had a designated driver because they had had one or more extra drinks. Among college students, using designated drivers is now a well established strategy for avoiding impaired driving.
Dr. DeJong, who is the Director of The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, believes that the designated driver strategy has its place as part of a broad, comprehensive strategy to combat drunk driving. For additional information, contact the center at Email: higheredctr@edc.org or visit their web site at http://www.edc.org/hec/.
The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) in Canada maintains the Fatality Database, a comprehensive source of objective dat on alcohol use among persons fatally injured in motor vehicle accidents in Canada. The database contains information on the characteristics of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, details of the crash, and type of vehicles involved. The database also includes objective information on the presence and quantity of alcohol (based on chemical tests) as well as information needed to interpret the results of chemical tests, such as time of death after crash.
The database is intact for the years 1973 to 1996. The most recent report is entitled Alcohol Use Among Drivers and Pedestrians Fatally Injured in Motor Vehicle Accidents: Canada 1996. The report is authored by D. Mayhew, S. Brown, and H. Simpson. Call Transport Canada at 800-333-0371 or contact TIRF at 171 Nepean St., Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0B4.
In a recent article in the Journal of International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (Vol. 22, No.2, 1998), Jaesik Lee of the College of Social Sciences, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea reports that traffic conditions in Korea since 1970 have been characterized by a relatively slow increase in the population and the total miles of roadway, but a rapid increase in the number of vehicles and licensed drivers. Specifically, the population has increased 1.39 times and the road miles 1.84 times while the number of vehicles has increased 66 times and licensed drivers 40.7 times. The number of accidents, deaths, and injuries also increased greatly. For example between 1985 and 1995 the number of traffic deaths increased 1.4 times. In response to this increase, in 1992 the Korean government implemented an intensive five-year traffic accident reduction effort. As a result, the number of deaths has been decreasing since 1992, with the total number of deaths decreasing from 13,429 in 1991 to 10,323 in 1995. The number of alcohol-related traffic deaths has increased by an average of 12.7 percent annually. The ratio of alcohol-related to total deaths has also increased from 3.1 percent in 1990 to 6.7 percent in 1995. Analyzed in terms of age groups, 75.6 percent of the alcohol-related accidents involved drivers 21-40 years-old.
The Century Council, an organization sponsored by alcohol industry participants, has funded a project to identify promising strategies, laws, and programs designed to deal with hardcore drinking drivers. They have produced a source book providing information on a broad range of administrative policies, laws, sanctions, and treatment programs that address this population. Among other materials, the project has developed profiles of each state providing information on laws and policies relevant to the hardcore drinking driver. Information about the project can be found on their web site: http://www.dwidata.org.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a critical review of recent literature on alcohol and traffic safety. The review, prepared by Mid-America Research Institute, covers scientific documents from both the U.S. and abroad on:
For a copy of the report, Alcohol Highway Safety: Problem Update, contact the Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590, fax 202-366-7096.
An intensive checkpoint program resulted in a 20.4 percent reduction in impaired driving fatal crashes. This effect was still present 21 months after the year-long program was over. The State of Tennessee, cooperating with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, initiated a statewide impaired driving checkpoint program called "Checkpoint Tennessee" in 1994. Several checkpoints were conducted throughout the state every weekend for a year using specially equipped vans. Officers used passive alcohol sensors mounted in flashlights to detect impaired drivers. An intensive publicity campaign supported the program. A total of 882 checkpoints were held during the year of the program and 773 arrests were made for driving under the influence of alcohol. An additional 201 drivers were arrested for drug violations, 49 weapons were seized, and 35 felony arrests were made. Surveys conducted throughout the project indicated a high level of public support.
For a copy of the report, An Evaluation of Checkpoint Tennessee: Tennessee's Statewide Sobriety Checkpoint Program, contact the Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590, Fax: 202-366-7096, or download from NHTSA's web site http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
A national survey in the U.S. provides information about driver's reported drug and alcohol use. A household survey of 11,847 persons aged 16 and older (who report driving at least once in the last year) indicates that one percent drove within two hours of drug use only and another four percent drove after using both drugs and alcohol. In addition, 23 percent reported driving after alcohol use only. The characteristics of the drivers who reported drug use before driving as well as the circumstances of use and opinions about use were also included in the survey.
For a copy of the report, Drug Use and Driving Behaviors: Findings from the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, contact the Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590, fax 202-366-7096, or download from NHTSA's web site http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
April 27-29, 1999
Australian Conference on Drugs Strategies (Including Drugs and Driving) - Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
For information and registration, contact Chef Inspector Graham Lough, SAPOL, Tel: 61-8-8202 or Email: DAP@camtech.net.au.
May 9-12, 1999
Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference XI - Halifax, Nova Scotia
Information about the conference, or abstracts in either English or French can be submitted to CMRSC-XI, Vehicle Safety Research Team, Dalhousie University, 5257 Morris Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2X4, CANADA, Tel: 902-494-3290, Fax: 902-425-1096, Email: vsrt@dal.ca.
May 24-27, 1999
16th World Congress of the International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine-Chongquing, China
For information about attending and/or submitting an abstract, contact the Secretariat of the 16th World Congress of IAATM, Research Institute of Surgery, Daping, Chongquing 400042, P.R. China, Tel/Fax: 86-23-68805645, Email: traumars@public.cta.cq.cn.
August 16-20, 1999
38th International Congress on Alcohol and Drug Dependence - Vienna, Austria
For information, contact ICAA, P.O. Box 189, 1001 Lausanne, Switzerland, Fax: 41-21-3201798, Email: icaa@pingnet.ch.
September 20-21, 1999
43rd Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine-Barcelona, Spain
Joint session with IRCOBI follows on September 22.
Contact Irene Herzau at AAAM in Chicago for information, Tel: 847-390-8927, ext.11; Email: AAAM@aol.com.
September 20-22, 1999
10th International Conference on Traffic Safety on Two Continents-Malmö, Sweden
Sponsored by VTI, TRB and BASt.
For information contact VTI, Tel: 46-13-20-4000, Fax: 46-13-12-6162, Email: info@vutv.vti.se.
January 8-13, 2000
79th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Transportation Research Board-Washington, DC, USA
Contact Dr. Richard Pain, Tel: 202-334-2960, Fax: 202-334-2003, Email: rpain@nas.edu.
May 21-26, 2000
15th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, ICADTS Jubilee Conference-Stockholm, Sweden
Contact the Conference Secretariat, c/o The Swedish National Road Administration, SE-781 87 Borlänge, Sweden, Tel: 46 243 75000, Fax: 46 243 75825, Email: t2000@vv.se. Also visit the new T2000 web site: http://www.ICADTS2000.com. (See related article)