The 16th ICADTS International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety is scheduled to take place in Montréal, Québec, Canada from August 4-9, 2002. The venue will be the Palais des Congrès, Montréal's convention centre in the heart of the city, easily accessible by car or subway, a few minutes walk from many downtown hotels and restaurants. The convention centre offers the most up-to-date, state-of-art facilities. The centre has an international reputation for its courteous staff and impeccable service. This will be the first ICADTS conference in North America since 1989. Future editions of The Reporter will provide information on the call for papers (which will be issued this month), scientific and social programs and conference registration. Visit the T'02 web site at: www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/t2002 for further information.
Working groups allow ICADTS members to share information and work together in the intervals between T conferences. At T2000 in Stockholm, ICADTS formed two new working groups and continued several existing groups. Members interested in participating in any group should contact the group's chair.
The above report was prepared by Dr. Jim Hedlund, Director of ICADTS Working Groups.
The Auto Club of Southern California and the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention is calling for entries to the annual competition for the Drinking and Driving Prevention Award for colleges and universities. The goal of the competition is to recognize programs and activities in higher education to prevent or reduce campus drinking and driving problems. The competition is open to post-secondary institutions in selected Western US states (CA, NM, TX, HI, UT, NV). Prevention efforts can include student activities, programs developed for administration or faculty leadership, or campus-community partnerships. The deadline for entries is January 17, 2001. For more information, contact Steven Bloch at 714-885-2313 or check the Auto Club's web site: www.aaa-calif.com.
A new survey conducted by the Southern California Research Institute in California and funded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that Hispanics have higher rates of DUI arrests and fatal crashes involving drivers with high BACs. In national roadside surveys, the percentage of Hispanic drivers with BACs exceeding 0.10% was twice as high in 1996 as in 1973. At the same time, the rates declined among both Caucasians and African American drivers. However, the high rates are not uniform across all Hispanic groups. Alcohol-related deaths were found to be more prevalent among Mexican Americans than among Caucasians, but that was not the case with Cuban or Puerto Rican Americans.
The survey queried 300 Mexican American men and 300 Caucasian men in Long Beach. Mexican Americans reported heavier and more frequent drinking. Other factors were people's misconceptions about alcohol and impairment, how they view their own ability to handle alcohol, and whether they're familiar with drinking and driving laws. Many of the Mexican Americans didn't have driver's licenses, and half of the unlicensed drivers never had attempted to get one.
It is hoped the report, Drinking and driving among Mexican American and Caucasian males, by ICADTS member Dr. Susan Ferguson, will help in efforts to reduce drinking and driving in the Latino community. For a copy of the report, write to IIHS, 1005 N. Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA 22201. (Source: Status Report, Vol.35, No. 8, September 30, 2000)
The United States has a new standard for drunk driving. On October 23, President Clinton signed a federal law that will require each state to pass .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as the legal limit or lose a portion of their federal highway funding. Congress passed the .08 BAC measure on October 6, 2000, as part of the Federal Transportation Appropriations Bill.
States have until October 1, 2003, to pass a .08 BAC "per se" law that would meet the provisions of an existing federal incentive grant or face the withholding of 2 percent of their federal highway construction funds, as part of the new .08 law. States that have not passed a .08 BAC law by October 1, 2004, will lose 4 percent of their federal highway construction funds. States without .08 BAC per se laws by October 1, 2005, will lose 6 percent of their federal highway construction funds, and on October 1, 2006, and each year thereafter, states without .08 BAC laws will lose 8 percent of their funds. If states lose funding in 2003, they have four years to pass .08 BAC when the money can be returned to the states upon passage.
Research shows that an estimated 500 highway deaths could be prevented annually if each state enacts .08 BAC.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have already enacted .08 BAC laws (AL, CA, FL, HI, ID, IL, KS, KY, ME, NH, NM, NC, OR, TX, UT, VT, VA and WA). Thirty one states still define intoxicated driving as .10 BAC.
A series of presentations at the Second European Symposium on Workplace Drug Testing in Rimini, Italy in October 2000 provided a glimpse into drug use by rail workers in Britain and Spain and transit workers in Sweden. Data were also presented for the US. ICADTS member Prof. Santo Davide Ferrara served as the symposium president. Dr. Gianpaolo Brusini was the symposium chairman.
Britain: In unannounced tests performed on British Railways workers from 1994 to 1997, the positive rate varied from 0.18% to 0.36%. Tests are also performed for cause, post accident, and on new employees and workers about to be promoted or transferred. Cannabis was the number one drug detected, at 68% of the positives, followed by 14% for alcohol and 10% for opiates in the tests performed in 1994/95. This report was presented by Alan W. Walters, formerly Head of Health and Safety for the British Railways Board.
Spain: Drug testing of various types has been conducted on Spanish railway workers since the mid 1980s. From 1988-92, 3.6% of workers tested were found positive for drugs. In 1993-95 tests, that percentage drooped to 1.4% and dropped further in 1996-97 tests to 1.1%. In 1999, 0.0% of tests were positive. Tests for alcohol showed that from 1988 to 1999 the positive rate varied between 5.6% and 11.4%. This information was presented by Estanislao Cobrero, Chief Doctor of the Spanish South-East National Railway Net.
Sweden: Transport workers in Stockholm have been subject to drug testing since 1998. The program includes random testing as well as pre-employment, post-accident, and return to duty after an absence for one year or more. Random tests are carried out for alcohol, opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, and cannabis. In 1998, 0.9% of the workers were positive in the random tests. That percentage decreased to 0.2% in 1999 and is running at 0.3% in 2000. Ten percent of workers have been tested randomly during the program thus far. That rate will increase to 25% in 2001. The data were presented by Hans-Erik Norbeck of the Section for Traffic and Transportation of Feelgood AB.
United States: Random tests of railroad workers in the United States showed a 0.82% positive rate for drugs and 0.21% positive rate for alcohol in 1998. The random testing rates are 25% for drugs and 10% for alcohol. For transit workers, the positive rate for drugs was 1.07% in 1998 and 0.99% in 1999. The testing rates for transit workers are 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol. This information was presented by Barry Sweedler, ICADTS President and until recently the Director of the Office of Safety Recommendations and Accomplishments at the US National Transportation Safety Board. The test results were provided by Mary Bernstein, Director, US Department of Transportation Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance.
The Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the University of Minnesota in the US has a new publication: Alcohol Compliance Checks: A Procedures Manual for Enforcing Alcohol Age-of-Sale Laws. The minimum purchase age for alcohol in the United States has been 21 since the mid 1980s. The establishment of 21 as the drinking age has led to a dramatic decrease in alcohol-related traffic crashes among young drivers. The major strategy for enforcing these laws is compliance checks, that is the use of confederates under 21 who, under police supervision, attempt to purchase alcohol at stores and bars. Increased enforcement of these laws has been shown to reduce sales to minors significantly. The new manual provides information on the effectiveness of compliance checks and details on how to carry out the checks. Practical guidance is given on how to plan the enforcement campaign, how to inform the alcohol sales outlets and the community as a whole, how to recruit and train the underage buyers, and how to deal with alcohol outlets who sell to minors. A training video for underage buyers is also available, entitled Alcohol Compliance Checks: Just the Facts.
For more information or copies of the manual and video, contact the Alcohol Epidemiology Program, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454-1015 USA, telephone: 612-626-7435, web site: http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol.
A recent study in the UK indicates a six-fold increase in the incidence of illicit drug taking in fatal road casualties, from 3% in the middle 1980's to 18% in the late 1990's. Cannabis constituted around two-thirds of the illegal drugs found. Between 1985 and 1987, the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) carried out a study to measure the incidence of drugs in road accident fatalities. It was found that the incidence of medicinal drugs (5.5%) and illicit drugs (3%) was relatively low in comparison to alcohol, which was found in 35% of cases. Based on evidence that illicit drug taking in the community as a whole has increased considerably since 1987, the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions commissioned a three year study in 1996 to look at the incidence of alcohol and drugs in road accident fatalities. The interim results are cited above.
The findings prompted work to address limitations in procedures used to detect drivers impaired by drugs. Two main limitations in procedures were found. Firstly, there is no readily available drug-screening device to detect the use of drugs. Secondly, police are not trained to detect drivers who may be impaired due to drugs. Trials of two roadside screening devices took place in 1998, one tested perspiration on a driver's brow, the other tested a driver's saliva. Both of these devices were prototypes when tested and the purpose of these trials was to assess the suitability of the tests for everyday use. The lack of police awareness and training was addressed by adapting drug recognition techniques developed in the United States. The techniques were tested during July and August 1999 by selected officers from six police forces. The success rate was high forensic analysis confirming the presence of a drug in 92% of the cases identified by police. The full TRL report 464 Recognising drug use drug related impairment in drivers at the roadside is currently in preparation and due to be issued shortly. For further information contact ICADTS member Rob Tunbridge, Email: enquiries@trl.co.uk. (Source: TRL News, September 2000)
Editor's note: The work discussed above is just one of a number of projects underway on this topic around the world. ICADTS has two working groups addressing global activities concerning drugged driving. One group is focusing on illicit drugs and is chaired by Dr. J. Michael Walsh of the US. The other, on licit drugs, is chaired by Dr. Johan de Gier of the Netherlands. Both groups are completing their work and reports will be issued shortly. The reports, when issued, will be highlighted in The Reporter.
Six technical sessions on alcohol and drugged driving will be featured at the 80th Annual Meeting of the US Transportation Research Board in Washington from January 7-11, 2001. The sessions are being sponsored by the Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Transportation, chaired by ICADTS Executive Board Member, Dr. Allan Williams. The six sessions include, Drugs and Driving Around the World, New DOT Regulations, Effectiveness of Graduated Licensing, Alcohol and Special Populations, Issues in Alcohol Treatment and a session on Ask the Experts. The committee will also hold a business meeting open to all those attending the annual meeting. For further information, visit the meeting web site at: national-academies.org/trb/meeting or contact Dr. Richard Pain at Tel: 202-334-2960, Email: rpain@nas.edu. ICADTS will also hold its Executive Board Meeting during the annual meeting. All ICADTS members are invited to attend.
Recent news reports of incidents of disruptive and even dangerous passenger behavior on airlines prompted an analysis by Norman Giesbrecht and colleagues of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. Giesbrecht outlined the analysis at Alcohol Policy 12 in June in Washington, D.C. While crowded conditions on airlines, flight delays, and prohibition of smoking may all contribute to stress and hostility, alcohol appears to be an exacerbating factor in about 43% of cases. Giesbrecht called for standardized measures and reporting to allow the problem to be gauged. He suggested that training and policy protocols be developed for flight attendants and other personnel related to alcohol service. Alcohol service at airports should also be examined. (Source: Prevention File, Fall 2000)
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bonte, Chief of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Dusseldorf in Germany, died on October 21. Prof. Bonte was a distinguished member of ICADTS having been awarded a special Widmark Centennial Award for his contributions to the field in 1989.
December 10-15, 2000
The Robert F. Borkenstein Course on Alcohol, Drugs and Highway Safety: Testing, Research and Litigation. Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Contact the Center for Studies of Law in Action, Indiana University, Sycamore Hall 302, Bloomington, IN 47404, Tel: 812-855-1783, Fax: 812-855-7542, Web site: www.borkenstein.com.
January 7-11, 2001
80th Annual Meeting of the U. S. Transportation Research Board. Washington, DC USA. Special alcohol and drug sessions will be featured.
Contact Dr. Richard Pain, Tel: 202-334-2960, Fax: 202-334-2003, Email: rpain@nas.edu.
March 25-27, 2001
Lifesavers 19-National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities. Denver, CO, USA
Contact Lifesavers Conferences, Inc., PO Box 30045, Alexandria, VA 22310, USA, Tel: 703-922-7944, Fax: 703-922-7780
August 4-9, 2002
16th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, T'02 Montreal, Québec, Canada
For information visit the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec Web site: www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/t2002.