Citation

Yadav AK, Velaga NR. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2020; 140: e105512.

Affiliation

Transportation Systems Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India. Electronic address: n.r.velaga@iitb.ac.in.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2020.105512

PMID

32234551

Abstract

Speeding behaviour is known to influence crash risk among alcohol-impaired drivers, but this relationship is scarcely explored. The present study investigated the effects of different Blood Alcohol Concentrations (BAC) levels on driving performance with respect to mean speed of drivers and their ability to avoid crashes during sudden events while driving. Eighty-two drivers participated in the simulation driving experiment at four BAC levels (0%, 0.03 %, 0.05 % and 0.08 % BAC) in rural and urban driving scenarios. Two sudden events (pedestrian crossing and road crossing by parked vehicles (a car and a truck) in the perpendicular direction of traffic) were designed to evaluate the crash probabilities in both the driving scenarios. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to analyse the effects of BAC levels and driver attributes (e.g., age, gender) on mean speeds and crash probabilities.

RESULTS for mean speed showed that, compared to sober state, drivers drove 3.5 kmph, 5.76 kmph and 8.78 kmph faster at 0.03 %, 0.05 % and 0.08 % BAC respectively in the rural environment and this increment was 3.6 kmph, 3.69 kmph and 4.13 kmph in the urban environment. The model results for crash probabilities revealed that 0.03 %, 0.05 % and 0.08 % BAC levels increased the crash probabilities by 1.9 times, 2 times and 3 times in case of the rural environment and 2 times, 2.3 times and 3.5 times respectively in the urban driving environment.

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Alcohol; Blood alcohol concentration; Crash probability; Driving environment; Driving simulator; Speed