Citation

Hausman R. Proc. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1966; 10: 23-25.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1966, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

No amount of experimentation with mock-ups, dummies, and simulated automobile crashes can replace the multi-disciplined investigation of actual fatal car accidents, The examination of the victims by the forensic pathologist is an essential part of such an investigation, which should include experts in law enforcement, highway safety and automotive engineering. In the past decades it has become abundantly clear from data gathered at various localities throughout the U.S.A. that the main causative factor for fatal car accidents is alcohol. Actually this fact should not surprise us. The modern automobile is a marvel of sophisticated engineering which requires for its use undivided attention and often split-second reaction time of the driver. Anything that tends to interfere with the attention and split-second timing could be responsible for an accident. In the great majority of accidents the interfering factor is alcohol, and, nowadays, as it is gradually borne out by further investigation, also drugs. How widespread and general the use of alcohol is can be read from the fact that at any given time 20 to 30 per cent of the male population throughout the nation will have more than 0.02% of alcohol in the blood. The most surprising circumstance in the problem of traffic and alcohol is the reluctance and at times out-right resistance of interested parties to recognize the paramount importance of alcohol in the causation of traffic accidents.