Citation

Assum T, Höye A. Proc. Road Saf. Four Continents Conf. 2010; 15: 434-442.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Conference Sponsor)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Road accidents involving heavy vehicles are known to have more severe consequences than other road accidents, and drink-driving is known to increase the accident risk considerably.However, little is known about drink-driving with heavy vehicles. A study was carried out inNorway to show the prevalence of alcohol among heavy-vehicle drivers in general and heavy vehicle drivers involved in road accidents. A literature review, as well as analyses of Norwegian accident statistics and in-depth reports of fatal accidents in Norway indicates that the prevalence of drink driving is far lower among drivers of heavy vehicles involved in crashes than among drivers of light vehicles. In Norway only about 1% of heavy vehicle drivers involved in injury or fatal crashes was found to have an illegal BAC level, while the proportion among drivers of light vehicles is about 6% in injury crashes and above 12% in fatal crashes. During the years 2005-2008 no driver of heavy vehicles involved in fatal crashes had an illegal BAC level. Among heavy-vehicle drivers in general road traffic, road-side checks conducted by the police led to the detection of one out of 2836 drivers of heavy vehicles who had an illegal BAC level (above 0.02). Alcolock is a potential countermeasure against drink-driving. It can be assumed to eliminate a major part of drink driving in vehicles where it is installed. However, with the low prevalence of drink driving among heavy-vehicle drivers, it is highly unlikely that alcolocks in heavy vehicles might be a cost effective measure. It would have to prevent about 17% of all injury crashes with trucks involved, or about 12% of all injury crashes with busses involved in order to have greater benefits than costs from a societal point of view. Increased police control at checkpoints might reduce drink driving among heavy-vehicle drivers as well. It may be cost effective, if checkpoints are both unpredictable and impossible to avoid for truck or bus drivers.