TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Trends in alcohol-impaired crashes in California, 2016 to 2021: a time series analysis for alcohol involvement and crash distribution among demographic subgroups
JO  - Alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
A1  - Mehranbod, Christina A.
A1  - Gobaud, Ariana N.
A1  - Branas, Charles C.
A1  - Chen, Qixuan
A1  - Giovenco, Daniel P.
A1  - Humphreys, David K.
A1  - Rundle, Andrew G.
A1  - Bushover, Brady R.
A1  - Morrison, Christopher N.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and control measures changed alcohol consumption in the United States (US) and globally. Before the pandemic, alcohol-impaired crashes contributed to around one-third of all road traffic crash injuries and fatalities nationally. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on crashes and examined differences in alcohol-involved crashes across various subgroups. <br><br>METHODS: University of California Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping Systems provided information on all crashes reported to the California Highway Patrol for 1/1/2016 to 12/31/2021. Using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models applied to weekly time series data, we estimated the effect of California's first mandatory statewide shelter-in-place order (3/19/2020) on crashes per 100,000 population. We also examined crash subgroups according to crash severity, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and alcohol involvement. <br><br>RESULTS: In California, the mean crash rate per week before the pandemic (January 1, 2016 - March 18, 2020) was 9.5 crashes per 100,000 population, and 10.3% of those were alcohol-involved. After the initiation of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, the percent of crashes that were alcohol-involved rose to 12.7%. Overall, the crash rate across California decreased significantly (-4.6 crashes per 100,000; 95% CI: -5.3, -3.9), including across all examined subgroups, with the greatest decrease among the least severe crashes. However, there was a 2.3% absolute increase in the proportion of crashes that were alcohol-involved (0.02 crashes per 100,000; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.03). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The initiation of a COVID-19 stay-at-home ordinance in California was associated with a substantial decrease in overall crash rates. While crashes have returned to pre-pandemic levels, alcohol-involved crashes remain elevated. The initiation of the stay-at-home order significantly increased alcohol-impaired driving that then remained elevated.    Keywords: Ethanol impaired driving <p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0145-6008
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.15091
ID  - ref1
ER  -