Citation

Wigmore JG, House CJ, Patrick JW. J. Can. Soc. Forensic Sci. 2004; 37(1): 1-8.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Canadian Society of Forensic Science, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00085030.2004.10757564

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A retrospective study was conducted of drinking drivers who were arrested with the highest Intoxilyzer® 5000C results in the City of Toronto between 1995 and 1999. For each of the five years, the twenty highest Intoxilyzer® 5000C results were selected, resulting in a sample size of one hundred drivers. There were 10 female and 90 male drivers between 22 and 64 years of age (median 41 years). The breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) of these drivers ranged from 0.301 to 0.410 g/210 L (mean 0.342 g/210 L, median 0.335 g/210 L). Most of these drivers would be classified as alcohol-dependent according to various epidemiological studies and the National Council of Alcoholism. The median BrAC of the female drivers (0.354 g/210 L) was significantly higher than the median BrAC of the male drivers (median 0.333 g/210 L) (Mann-Whitney test, p=0.04). There was no correlation between age and BrAC. Forty-seven of the drivers (41 male, 6 female) had been involved in motor vehicle collisions and 53 (49 male, 4 female) were not involved in collisions. There were no statistically significant differences in BrACs between the collision and non-collision drivers (T-test: t=0.41, p=0.69). The number of alcohol-related occurrences in this group of drivers was spaced evenly throughout the week with no increase on the weekends. Of these occurrences, 51% were recorded between the hours of 12:00 (noon) and 8:00 pm, whereas only 25% occurred between 8:00 pm and 12:00 (midnight), a time more often dedicated to police countermeasures. This temporal relationship in the alcohol-related occurrences is consistent with the observed drinking behaviour of alcohol-dependent individuals in which drinking can occur anytime throughout the day or week rather than only at night or on the weekends. Police countermeasures against drinking and driving for this group of drivers with the highest BrACs should not be concentrated only at night or on the weekends.