T'97, the 14th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety took place amid splendid weather and the spectacular scenery of Annecy, France September 21-26, 1997. Opening plenary papers were given by distinguished researchers and policy-makers from France and other countries. Dr. Robert Voas was asked to present the paper written by Dr. H. Laurence Ross, who was too ill to attend the conference. Sadly, Dr. Ross died at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the conference week. (See the related story on Dr. Ross below.) The Widmark awards were conferred in a ceremony that provided background and insight into the work of the awardees. Recipients of the individual awards were Dr. Allan Williams (USA), Dr. Herbert Moskowitz (USA), and Dr. A. Wayne Jones (Sweden). Remove Intoxicated Drivers (USA) received an institutional award. Over 220 papers and posters were presented to the close to 500 registrants representing 38 countries. In the model initiated at T'95 in Adelaide, conference proceedings were available to all participants at registration, allowing them to preview presentations. The social program included food, drink, and entertainment that highlighted the beauty and fascination of the Savoie region of France. In the closing ceremonies, outgoing ICADTS officers were thanked for their service and the new ICADTS officers took over their duties. Conference organizer, Dr. Charles Mercier-Guyon officially handed the ICADTS flag to Hans Laurell, new ICADTS president and organizer of the T'2000 conference, so that the flag can wave over Stockholm when conference attendees converge there in three years.
Dr. Mercier-Guyon, his wife Catherine, and the rest of the conference team are deserving of our thanks and congratulations for this very successful and enjoyable conference.
The proceedings from T'97, the 14th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety are now available for purchase. The three volume, 1466 page proceedings, includes 218 papers prepared for presentations. The cost is 400 French Francs plus the cost of mailing. The mailing cost varies with location. Contact Dr. Mercier-Guyon, C.E.R.M.T., BP 132, 74004 Annecy, cedex France or at Tel: 33 4 50 45 61 79, Fax: 33 4 50 45 36 92 to order your copy.
Dr. H. Laurence Ross, professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico, long time ICADTS member and Widmark award winner, died at age 63 on September 25, 1997. Larry was a pioneer in research and an innovative thinker in the field of impaired driving. The following tribute to Larry was written by ICADTS president, Hans Laurell.
"The world has suddenly become a lot less intriguing. We have lost someone who made life more interesting for many of us. When Larry died, a true giant disappeared from the field of sociology and from intellectual endeavors related to understanding society. His interest in the area of drinking and driving has probably had a greater impact on policy-making than we can imagine today. Few have contributed more to the field. It is consoling to know that this was recognized by his peers when he was awarded the Widmark Award in 1989. This is the most prestigious award in the field of alcohol, drugs, and traffic safety, bestowed by ICADTS. Larry was a member of ICADTS for many years and served for a considerable time on the Executive Board.
Larry was never afraid to challenge established "truths." He found new perspectives which eventually gave new explanations or interpretations of these truths. He was just not willing to accept a truth that was based on the shaky ground of conventional wisdom. We should all be grateful for his quest for real knowledge. Larry was an extremely valuable asset to the scientific community -- as indicated by his impressive list of invited presentations. Larry was in many ways a renaissance man. He had a deep knowledge of many cultures and was always eager to find out more -- even if it meant learning a new language. Art was a passion, high quality in all aspects of life a leading. He himself was the epitome of good quality. It is a privilege to have known Larry Ross."
As has been announced previously, the next ICADTS conference, T'2000, the 15th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, May 21-26, 2000. The first ICADTS conference took place in Stockholm, making the selection of Stockholm only fitting for the our Jubilee conference. The conference will be convened by ICADTS President Hans Laurell and held under the patronage of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf. To obtain information about the T'2000, 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. Information can also be obtained from the T'2000 web site: http://www.vv.se/ts/t2000.htm.
During the Executive Board and General Membership meetings that occurred at T'97, presentations were made by teams from Montreal, Canada and Glasgow, Scotland proposing these cities as venues for future conferences. A recommendation was made for a proposal that the two conferences following T'2000 occur at two-year intervals, with Montreal, Quebec, Canada hosting a conference in 2002 and Glasgow, Scotland, the UK, hosting a conference in 2004. The Organizing Committee for the Montreal conference will be headed by Jean-Yves Gagnon, CEO of Sociètè de L'Assurance Automobile du Quèbec (SAAQ). The Glasgow group is headed by Dr. John Oliver of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Science, the University of Glasgow. ICADTS members are involved with both groups. This plan was approved by the membership and we look forward to hearing further details about what promises to be an exciting series of conferences over the next seven years.
ICADTS Executive Board member, Dr. Andrew Clayton (British Institute of Traffic Education Research) has recently published a report entitled Which Way Forward? A Review of Drink Driving Countermeasures in Selected Countries World-wide. The research for the report was funded by the Portman Group, established by the major UK drinks companies to address alcohol problems. The report describes the extent of the drink driving problem in several countries throughout the world and the characteristics of drinking drivers in these countries. It then summarizes the experience of these countries with a variety of countermeasures: reducing the legal limit for drinking and driving; the use of various enforcement strategies; the imposition of a variety of penalties against both offenders and their vehicles; and the use of rehabilitation programs.
For copies of the report, contact The Portman Group, 2d Wimpole Street, London W1M 7AA.
The ICADTS Executive Board has decided to place greater emphasis on its working groups as a way to highlight and focus the work of the organization and as one of the major methods of achieving our goal of reducing mortality and morbidity brought about by misuse of alcohol and drugs by operators of vehicles in all modes of transportation. The Board decided to provide greater financial support to the working groups and to urge the groups to develop reports and studies that ICADTS could publish and make available to researchers, policy makers, law enforcement and others working in the field. In order to assist the working groups in their work, Guidelines for Establishing an ICADTS Working Group has been approved. In addition, Dr. Johan de Gier of the Netherlands, has been selected to be the Coordinator of ICADTS Working Groups. In this new position, he will be assisting each of the groups in their activities and providing advice and guidance on report preparation and publication. The following is a list of the current Working groups and their Chairs. Colleagues (both members and non-members of ICADTS) interested in contributing to the work of one of the groups are encouraged to contact the appropriate chair:
In his plenary speech during the opening session at T'97, the Honorable John Richardson, Member of Parliament from Victoria, Australia and chair of the Road Safety Committee posed a challenge to ICADTS. He lamented the fact that jurisdictions all over the world have difficulty enforcing and prosecuting laws against driving under the influence of drugs because of a lack of credible information regarding measurement of drug levels and impairment at different levels. His concern is based on the findings of a report published by the Road Safety Committee entitled, Inquiry into the Effects of Drugs (Other than Alcohol) on road Safety in Victoria. (For a description of this report, see Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter, 1997) edition of The Reporter.) He challenged ICADTS to assess current knowledge about drugs and to provide guidance to governments attempting to deal with this problem.
In response to his challenge, ICADTS has established a new working group, co-chaired by Dr. Johan de Gier (the Netherlands) and Dr. Michael Walsh (US). The group will address a variety of issues including measurement of drug levels, impairment at different levels, the interactive effects of multiple drugs, practical issues regarding the feasibility of detection, enforcement, and prosecution, and others. Anyone wishing to contribute to the work of the group should contact Dr. de Gier (Tel: 31-43-3883305, Email: degiercs@worldaccess.nl) or Dr. Walsh (301-571-9494).
The ICADTS Executive Board recently elected new members to ICADTS. They include: Becky T. Davies, Dr. Susan A. Ferguson, Dr. Thomas H. Nochajski, Jeffrey A. Pike and Dr. Jean T. Shope of the USA; Dr. R. J. Turnbridge of the UK; and Dr. Robert W. Lamble of Canada. Each new member was nominated by two active ICADTS members and approved by the Membership Committee and the Executive Board. In addition, Dr. A. R. W. Forrest of the UK and Kaisa Nedby, Göran Ohlson and Brittmarie Utterström of Sweden were elected Affiliate members. Colleagues working in the field of alcohol, drugs and traffic safety who are interested in becoming members of ICADTS, can obtain information on ICADTS membership and an application, by checking the ICADTS Web Site or by contacting the ICADTS, Secretary Carol L. Popkin Council, Division of Mental Health, Department of Human Resources, 325 N. Salisbury Street #1168, Raleigh, NC 27603-5903, U.S.A. Phone: 919-733-4671, Fax: 919-733-9455, Email: cpopkin@dhr.state.nc.us. Current dues for ICADTS are $60 per year, which includes a subscription to the official ICADTS journal, the Journal of Traffic Medicine.
ICADTS member Edgar Spoerer (Germany) along with co-authors Maria Ruby (Austria) and Markus Jensch (Italy) have recently published a book entitled, Back to the Wheel: Theory and Practical Experience in the Rehabilitation of Traffic Offenders. The book summarizes the history, current status, research evidence, and practical issues related to rehabilitation programs for impaired driving offenders in Germany and Austria. Several current program models are described in the book along with important factors related to the implementation of these models. The book is Volume 40 of the series, Human Factors in Traffic. It is available from the publisher Rot-Gelb-Grün Verlag, Postfach 3922, D-38029 Braunschweig, Tel: 0049-0531-809070, Fax: 0049-0531-8090721.
The Institut National de Reherche sur les Transports et leur Sécurité in France recently published Drink Driving and Alcohol- related Accidents References and Results 1985-1995: An Account of Epidemiological Research Conducted at INRETS-DERA. The report includes the history of legislation and enforcement in France as well as trends since 1985 in the findings of random roadside and post-crash testing, social and demographic classification of drinking drivers, alcohol levels in pedestrians involved in fatal crashes, and a typology of drivers and vehicles involved in crashes. The report, authored by ICADTS member Marie Berthe Biecheler- Fretel, and coauthors Hélène Fontaine, and Claude Filou, can be obtained from the Département Evaluation et Recherche en Accidentologie, 2 avenue du Général Malleret-Joinville F-94114 ARCUEIL cedex France.
At an October Conference, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released Partners in Progress: An Impaired Driving Guide for Action. The guide proposes strategies and actions designed to reduce impaired driving deaths in the U.S. to no more than 11,000 by 2005. The contents of the guide have been developed through a series of meetings, beginning with a Summit in February 1995. The basis of the strategies is the assumption that in order to reach this ambitious goal (which requires a reduction in alcohol-related fatalities by about 6,500 per year) a wide range of societal segments must participate and a wide range of innovative strategies must be applied vigorously. The guide is presented in seven sections: public education, individual responsibility, the health care community, businesses and employers, legislation, enforcement and adjudication, and technology. Recommendations are based on research where possible and on collective experience and informed intuition of Summit partners where research is not available. To obtain a copy of the guide, contact NHTSA at 400 7th St., SW, Washington, DC 20590.
For a prosecutor in the U.S., proving a driving under the influcence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) case that involves a previous conviction in another state can be challenging. Each state has its own procedures for recording this information and for releasing it to another state. To help ease these difficulties, the National Traffic Law Center (NTLC) of the American Prosecutors Research Institute developed a manual with information for all states, territories, and the District of Columbia. For each jurisdiction the manual lists information about driving records, court information, case law, and state statutes. To order Prior Convictions in DUI Prosecutions, call toll free 800-562-1197 or visit the web site at http://www.michie.com.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently sponsored a series of focus groups to explore the attitudes of drinking drivers and people who may be in a position to intervene in the drinking and driving behavior of others, and to assess the strength of media messages in motivating potential interveners. The focus groups were conducted with men at high risk of drinking and driving and with the wives and girlfriends of high risk drinking drivers. The young men in the focus groups recognized that driving after drinking was dangerous, but most claimed that they were able to drive safely after consuming as many as 10 to 12 beers. Most believed that their driving skills would enable them to avoid crashes. Few reported that they made explicit plans before going out drinking to avoid driving drunk. They identified a spouse, girlfriend, or close friend as someone who could successfully intervene in their drinking and driving.
The girlfriends and spouses of the drinking men reported that they had intervened in the past in their partners' drinking and driving, but they disliked doing so. They found it almost impossible to reason with an intoxicated man and some were concerned with the potential for violent behavior.
To obtain a copy of Strategic Advertising Plans to Deter Drunk Driving, write to Media and Marketing Division, NHTSA, NTS- 21, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590, or Fax 202-366-2727, or Email Robert Ross at rross@nhtsa.dot.gov.
January 11-15, 1998
77th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Transportation Research Board - Washington, D.C., USA
Contact Dr. Richard Pain, Tel: 202-334-2960, Fax: 202-334-2003.
February 18-20, 1998
Second World Congress on Safety of Transportation - Delft, The Netherlands
Contact Karin Luijendijk, Erasmus Forum, c/o Safety of Transportation, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Tel: 31-10-408-1098, Fax: 31-10-453-0784, Email: K.E.Luijendijk@forum.svdu.eur.nl.
May 17-20, 1998
4th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Contact Conference Secretariat, P.O. Box 1558, 6501 BN Nijmegon, The Netherlands, Tel: 31-24-323-4471, Fax: 31-24-360-1159, Email: reg.fowoco.nw@prompt.nl.
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 T'2000 web site: http://www.vv.se/ts/t2000.htm.