Drink in many accidents — survey

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33873, 19 June 1975, Page 19

Drink in many accidents — survey

Forty-two per cent of drivers held to have been fully responsible for accidents they were involved in had been drinking, according to the results of a survey printed in the latest issue of the “New Zealand Hledical Journal.”

The survey was made over three months in 1972 by three members of the medical staff at the Christchurch Hospital. It involved 461 car drivers and motor-cyclists who were injured and available for the study. Blood samples were taken from 370 drivers.

The authors of the report are Mr D. N. J. Hart, a final-year medical student,, Professor W. A, A. G. Macbeth, professor of surgery at the Christchurch Clinical School, and Mr P. W. Cotter, a surgeon.

Apart from details of the i physical aspects of the acci- | dent, information gathered : from the drivers covered previous accidents, criminal, drinking and traffic offences.! The information was coded' on to a card and from there a tape was prepared for, computer analysis. Drivers’ occupations were* classified according to the, British Registrar-General’s, classification. They were 1 professional (class 1), inter-; mediate (class II). skilled! occupations (class III), part-' ly skilled occupations (class!

IV), and unskilled occupations (class V).

LACK OF STATISTICS One of the most important (factors to emerge from the (survey, according to the rejport, was the lack of accurate official Ministry of (Transport statistics. J “No organisation can hope to carry out worth-while ref search when it is selectively sampling only 68 per cent of the events it is trying to ( study. This is particularly ' significant when one notes the different characteristics lof the drivers escaping defection.” the report said. ( “One of the unsurmoun-j table difficulties is the ab-l isence of public con-i i demnation of the drunken! driver — this arises because! (of a feeling of identification! (with the drunken driver. The! (public go to extremes to! protect him from detection. “Blood sampling in hos-i ! pitals was opposed for feari the guilty driver would not! attend and fail to receive! vital medical aid — in fact! no such delays have been! noted. Changes in enforcement practices such as random breath-testing were more likely to be effective than (changes in penalties, the re-! ! port said. Special legislation should be considered for (those convicted of driving (with a blood-aicohol level than’ 150/100.” ABOVE LIMIT

Of the 370 from whom blood samples were taken, whether they caused an accident or not. 99 (27 per cent) were found to have been , drinking and had an average

blood count of 142 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Seventy (19 per cent) of those sampled exceeded the legal limit. Of the 99 positive blood samples, 68 per cent were from drivers involved in single-vehicle accidents.

The survey showed that of the 99 positive samples, 50 per cent had been convicted on other traffic offences, 37.6 per cent had been convicted for criminal offences, and 26.7 per cent had been convicted for previous drinking offences. Most of the 99 drivers who returned positive blood counts (90.1 per cent) were .from the three classes at the ■lower end of the classification scale. MANY YOUNG The survey also found I that of the 99 positive samples, 63 per cent were returned by the 15 to 24 age ( group. This group also provided 64 per cent of all car drivers and motor-cyclists coming to the hospital.

The report noted that “It is remarkable that 26 per cent of driving licences are held by drivers under 25 (years.” Publicity’ was aimed at the social drinker and little attempt was made to keep the problem drinker off the road.

“Accidents involving alcohol are well distributed i throughout the afternoon ■ period and all days of the ; week — again a reflection of these peoples’ continuing I dependence on alcohol,” said I the report. -