Citation

Bako G, Mackenzie WC, Smith ES. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 1977; 116(2): 149-151.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Canadian Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

608145

PMCID

PMC1878989

Abstract

A 3-year enpidemiologic study of fatal motor vehicle accidents was carried out by the Alberta Task Force on Highway Accidents. It was found that 11.1% of culpable drivers had been driving while impaired by alcohol on at least one occasion prior to the fatal accident, while only 3.3% of exonerated drivers had previous records. This significant difference led to a case-control study that demonstrated that the recidivist drivers (case group) differed significantly in a number of aspects from the innocent drivers (control group)--notably, age distribution, sex, whether drinking before the accident, blood alcohol concentration, ethnic distribution, class of accident and type of collision. Thus the recidivist driver is a greater threat to highway safety than the innocent driver and needs special attention by legislators and law enforcement agencies.

Language: en