The proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (T2004), held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK in August 2004, are now available online (follow the link on the ICADTS web site: www.ICADTS.org). The full versions of the more than 200 scientific papers are available for searching and downloading. In addition, the PowerPoint presentations of some of the authors are also available.
The proceedings from T2000 in Stockholm, Sweden are also available for searching and downloading directly from www.ICADTS.org for the first time. Eventually, all modern ICADTS conference papers will be available directly on the ICADTS web site. This will allow a single access point for all modern conference papers.
In a presentation at the 84th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Transportation Research Board in Washington in January, Hans Laurell of the Swedish Road Administration reported on a 60% rise in drunk driving deaths in Sweden from 1998 to 2001. For a number of years, Sweden enjoyed a position as an example of successful work against drunk driving and its consequences. In the years around 1990 the proportion of alcohol related fatalities declined sharply - coming down from 31% in 1989 to 18% in 1997. Unfortunately, since then there has been a sharp increase. The percentage of fatally injured drivers who had been drinking had risen to about 29% by 2003. The main reasons for the deterioration are: increased alcohol consumption, less random breath testing, less resources for safety campaigns, and more lenient penalties. In 1996, the year that Sweden joined the European Union, Swedes (older than 15) drank 8 liters of pure alcohol per person/yr. Joining the EU meant, among other things, that Sweden had to accept a gradual loss of its restrictive alcohol policies, including high taxes and strict limits on sales outlets. By 2004, consumption had increased to >10.5 liter. An analysis found that an increase of 1 liter yields 11% more DWIs and an increase of 1% yields 0.6% more DWIs. An increase of 1 liter yields 8% more fatalities. In addition, the number of people treated for alcohol intoxication was doubled between 1998 and 2001.
The presentation took place at a session on Worldwide Trends in Impaired Driving: Emerging Concerns. The session also included presentation from Kate McMahon and Valerie Davies (United Kingdom), Mary Sheehan (Australia), Richard Compton (United States) and Paul Boase (Canada). Copies of the PowerPoint presentations can be obtained from Susan Ferguson, Secretary of the TRB Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Transportation, which sponsored the session. Her email address is: sferguson@iihs.org.
On December 13, 2004, motorists in the Australian state of Victoria became the first in the world to be subjected to random roadside saliva testing for illegal drugs. The police are using equipment to test whether motorists have recently used cannabis or methamphetamine-based drugs. According to a media release from the Victoria Minister for Police and Emergency Services: "31 percent of motorists killed in Victoria tested positive for drugs other than alcohol." A zero-tolerance approach is taken regarding drugged driving because there is no legally accepted level of illicit drugs. Motorists who return positive laboratory results for cannabis or methamphetamines will incur varying levels of monetary penalties, demerit points and license suspension.
The preliminary findings of the first six weeks of the year-long pilot program found that one in every 103 motorists were driving with methamphetamines and/or THC in their system, the active components in speed and marijuana respectively. That's more than twice as likely to be found on Australia's roads as drink-drivers. Under current laws in Victoria, such drivers won't be forced off the road. This compares with an average of one in 250 drivers found with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 per cent or more, or none if a probationary driver. Eighteen of the 1855 drivers tested had one or both drug components in their system. An opposition police spokesman called for the penalties for drug-driving to be brought into line with those for drink-driving. Drink-drivers lose their licence if their blood alcohol level is above 0.07 per cent, and get 10 demerit points and a $307 fine if it is between 0.05 and 0.07. But first-time drug-drivers receive only three demerit points and get fined $307. The trial is being watched closely by other states. New South Wales and South Australia are reportedly considering introducing their own programs later in the year. Queensland is conducting a review into all impaired-driving issues. Additional information including FAQs, testing procedures, penalties, initiatives and education of the Victoria program can be accessed at http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au/c_drugsAD.html. (Source: Victoria Government and theaustralian.news.com.au, January 31, 2005)
In 2003, during autumn weekend nights, the share of drivers with a BAC above the legal limit of 0.05% dropped, for the first time since 1996. In 1996, the share of offenders was 4.4%; in 1997 4.3%; in 1999 4.3%; in 2000 4.6%; in 2001 4.2%; in 2002 4.3%; and in 2003 3.9% (in 1998, no national roadside survey was conducted). The drop in 2003 is only statistically significant, when compared to the year 2000. However, there was probably a real drop in 2003, since the drink driving enforcement level increased by approx. 65% between 2001 and 2003. In the preceding 30 years, each 100% rise of the enforcement level resulted roughly in a 25% decrease of the offender rate. The effect of the decreased offender rate in 2003 on alcohol-related fatalities and serious injuries, unfortunately, seems to be relatively small. In 2001, the share of recorded alcohol-related fatalities and serious injuries (in the total number of recorded fatal and serious road injuries) was 9.2%; in 2002 9.9%; and in 2003 9.3%.
This may be explained by 2 factors: 1) The proportion of drivers with a very high BAC (0.13% and higher), who are responsible for approximately 80% of all alcohol-related fatal and serious injuries in the Netherlands, did not decrease noticeably: 0.5% in 2001; 0.5% in 2002; and 0.6% in 2003; 2) Preliminary results of a 4-year SWOV study (mid-2000 till mid-2004) in the Tilburg police district in the south of the Netherlands, indicate that a growing number of drivers combine alcohol and illegal drug use. The injury risk of these drivers seems to be 5-10 times higher than the injury risk of drivers who only use alcohol.
The third Action Plan presented under the National Road Safety Strategy 2001-2010 (the National Strategy) identifies the main issues expected to influence road trauma levels in the foreseeable future, and sets out the priority areas for action in calendar years 2005 and 2006. The Action Plan was developed jointly by all Australian jurisdictions, with input from the National Road Safety Strategy Panel, which represents a broad range of organisations with a stake in road safety. It has been endorsed by Ministers of the Australian Transport Council (ATC). Concerning alcohol and other drugs, all jurisdictions have had considerable success in reducing the contribution of alcohol to road trauma, but about 26 per cent of driver and rider fatalities still have a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit. This figure varies widely among jurisdictions, which suggests that there is considerable scope for further gains through identification and application of best practice approaches to deterrence.
Effective deterrence depends on convincing potential offenders that offences are very likely to be detected and punished. This perception cannot be maintained without intensive enforcement. There is concern in many jurisdictions about high drink driving rates in rural areas. This reflects both the difficulties in applying Random Breath Testing effectively in rural areas, and the lack of alternative transport options (such as trains, buses or taxis) in many rural areas. Specially adapted programmes are needed to reduce drink driving in rural areas. The actual penalties in place for alcohol and drug offences are also an important aspect of deterrence. There may be a need for more effective penalties, including options such as vehicle sanctions. There is evidence that a substantial proportion of drink drivers - particularly recidivist offenders - have serious alcohol abuse problems, often paralleled by broader psychological and social problems. Alcohol interlock programmes and rehabilitation programmes have had some success in changing the behaviour of recidivist offenders who are resistant to mainstream deterrence and publicity programmes. In terms of substance impairment, alcohol is the biggest single contributor to road trauma; however, recent information from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine indicates that other drugs warrant further examination and action. The development of effective drink and drug driving strategies is hampered by inadequate data on alcohol and drug involvement in serious crashes. Routine blood sampling and drug testing are currently limited to fatally injured drivers, but need to be applied consistently and extended to all drivers involved in fatal or serious crashes. See www.atsb.gov.au for the full report.
A final report issued in December 2004 by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discussed a project evaluating the effectiveness of a lower BAC limit for drivers convicted of operating under the influence of intoxicants (OUI) in Maine. The law made it illegal for an OUI offender to drive with any amount of alcohol in the blood. The evaluation included a process evaluation of the law's effect on the State's traffic law enforcement efforts, and an impact evaluation of the law's effect on OUI recidivism and traffic crashes. The study found the law had little or no burdensome effect on OUI enforcement processes or resource requirements, but contributed to a reduction of convicted OUI offenders in fatal crashes in general, and in alcohol-related fatal crashes in particular. The report was prepared by R.K. Jones and C. Rodriguez-Iglesias, of Mid-America Research Institute, Inc. Amy Berning was NHTSA's Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for this project. The report, DOT HS 809 827, can be viewed at: www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
A study appearing in Accident Analysis and Prevention (Vol. 37, No. 1, 2005) looked at driving-while-intoxicated history as a risk marker for general aviation pilots. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration conducts background checking for driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) convictions on all pilots. This study examined the association between DWI history and crash risk in a cohort of 335,672 general aviation pilots. These pilots were followed up from 1994 to 2000 through the aviation crash surveillance system of the National Transportation Safety Board. At baseline, 3.4% of the pilots had a DWI history. DWI history was associated with a 43% increased risk of air crash involvement. In addition to DWI history, male gender, older age, and inexperience were associated with significantly increased risk of involvement in an air crash. The results of this study support DWI history as a valid risk marker for general aviation pilots. The authors, G. Li, S.P. Baker, Y. Qiang, J.G. Grabowski, and M.L. McCarthy of Johns Hopkins University note that the safety benefit of background checking for DWI history needs to be further evaluated.
The majority of Canadian drivers believe drinking and driving is a priority social issue and the most serious road safety issue they face, yet nearly one in five (18%) admit to driving after drinking in the previous month. This is one of the findings from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation's (TIRF's) fourth annual Road Safety Monitor. In a national survey of more than 1,200 drivers, TIRF found that drinking and driving is perceived as a leading social issue by the vast majority (81%) of Canadians, who expressed greater concern over this problem than issues such as the state of the health care system, airline safety or the threat of terrorism. Nonetheless, the survey estimates that 3.9 million Canadians continue to drive after drinking.
For a more detailed description of the results of the Road Safety Monitor 2004: Drinking and Driving report, click on the following url address: http://trafficinjuryresearch.com/whatNew/whatNew.cfm?intNewsID=145&intContactID=3.
Motorcycles are the most dangerous type of motor vehicle to drive. These vehicles are involved in fatal crashes at a rate of 35.0 per 100 million miles of travel, compared with a rate of 1.7 per 100 million miles of travel for passenger cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported increasing numbers of motorcycle deaths associated with alcohol-impaired driving in recent years, especially among persons aged >40 years. The Centers for Disease Control analyzed data from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 1983, 1993, and 2003 and found that the overall prevalence of elevated blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) among motorcycle drivers who died in crashes declined; however, the peak rate of death among alcohol-impaired motorcycle drivers shifted from those aged 20--24 years to those aged 40--44 years. Among alcohol-impaired motorcycle drivers, the mortality rate was highest among persons aged 20--24 years in 1983 and among persons aged 40--44 years in 2003. In 1983, 8.2% of alcohol-impaired, fatally injured motorcycle drivers were aged >40 years; by 2003, 48.2% of such drivers were in this age group.
Sales of new on-road motorcycles increased substantially from 1997 through 2003, from 247,000 to 648,000 units. This increase coincided with a 69.8% increase in the number of motorcyclist traffic fatalities during that period, from 2,116 in 1997 to 3,592 in 2003. The increased number of motorcycles on the road probably contributed to the increase in the motorcycle mortality rate during 1993--2003. The mortality rate increase has been restricted to older motorcycle drivers.
Strong enforcement of existing BAC laws, together with other public health interventions aimed at motorcyclists, might reduce the crash mortality rate, especially among older drivers.
The report was published in the December 3, 2004 ( 53(47);1103-1106) issue of MMWR Weekly and was prepared by L.J. Paulozzi, MD, R. Patel, MPH, Div of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, with contributions by T. Lindsey, NHTSA. The full report can be viewed at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5347.pdf.
A study published in Accident Analysis and Prevention (37(2) 2005: 357-66) looked at identifying motorcycle crash cause factors and countermeasures in Thailand. Researchers conducted on-scene, in-depth investigation and reconstruction of 969 collisions involving 1082 motorcycle riders. Accidents were randomly sampled and included all levels of injury severity. Alcohol proved to be the most outstanding cause factor, with 393 drinking riders in crashes.
Alcohol accidents were distinctly different from non-alcohol crashes. Alcohol accidents were more frequent on weekends and particularly at night, usually when the rider was on his way home. Drinking riders were more likely to lose control of the motorcycle, usually by running off the road. They were more likely to be in a single vehicle accident, to violate traffic control signals, and to be in non-intersection collisions. Males were far more likely to drink and ride than females. Drinking riders were far more likely to be inattentive to the driving task just before they crashed, and to be the primary or sole cause of the accident. Drinking riders were more likely to be hospitalized and far more likely to be killed. The higher hospitalization and fatality rates of drinking riders resulted from the kinds of accidents in which they were involved, not from the minimal differences in speeds and helmet use. Problems with balance and coordination were about equally rare among drinking and non-drinking riders. Inattention was a far greater contributing factor.
The study was conducted by V. Kasantikul, J.V.Ouellet, T. Smith, J. Sirathranont and V. Panichabhongse of Silpakorn University, Thailand.
A new book by Leonard Evans entitled Traffic Safety was recently published by Science Serving Society (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan). The book provides a comprehensive overview of traffic safety problems and their nature, including discussions of vehicle and roadway characteristics; gender, age and alcohol effects on survival; older drivers; driver performance and behavior; and occupant protection. The chapter on alcohol includes discussions of the role of alcohol in increasing crash risk and the range of policy approaches available to deal with the impaired driving problem. The book includes a critique of U.S. traffic policies that have resulted in a safety record behind that of many other industrialized countries and provides suggestions for how policy changes could improve safety. For more information, contact Dr. Evans at: LE@ScienceServingSociety.com.
A presentation by David DeYoung of the California Department of Motor Vehicles at the January meeting of the Transportation Research Board Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Transportation reported on a recently completed series of evaluations of various California ignition interlock device programs. The studies looked at interlock programs imposed by a judge as part of court proceedings and those imposed through an administrative process. The outcomes varied depending on the type of program and the type of offender.
For the judicial program:
For the administrative program:
Thus, these evaluations indicate that the interlock programs were effective in reducing alcohol related crashes and convictions for some offenders. For the most part, they increased overall crash rates. It should be noted, however, that while overall crash rates were higher than for offenders who were not on the interlock (and presumably unlicensed), the crash rate was still slightly below that of average California drivers. The evaluations reports, co-authored by Helen Tashima and Scott Masten will be available shortly.
May 15-20, 2005
The Borkenstein Course on Alcohol and Highway Safety: Testing, Research and Litigation-Bloomington, Indiana USA
Contact: Center for Studies of Law in Action, Indiana Univ. Tel: 812-855-1783, Fax: 812-855-7542, Email: dlindsay@indiana.edu.
June 16-17, 2005
4th Symposium on Workplace Drug Testing-Dublin, Ireland
The symposium is sponsored by the European Workplace Drug Testing Society.
Visit http://dublin2005.ewtds.org for information.
January 22-26, 2006
85th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board-Washington, DC USA
Alcohol and drug impaired driving technical sessions, and meetings of the TRB Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Transportation and the ICADTS Executive Board will be featured.
Visit www.trb.org/trb/meeting for meeting information.
October 16-18, 2006
20th World Congress of the International Traffic Medicine Association - Melbourne, Australia
Contact www.trafficmed@vifm.org for information.
August 26-31, 2007
T'2007-18th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety - Seattle, Washington, United States
Sponsored by ICADTS and The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.
Visit www.icadts2007.org for information.