 |
Alcohol Involvement in Pedestrian Fatalities -- United States,
1982-1992
Pedestrian deaths constitute the second largest category of
motor-vehicle-related fatalities (following vehicle-occupant
deaths) and account for 14% of all traffic-associated deaths and
approximately 3% of all traffic-associated injuries. In 1992, 5546
pedestrians were killed and 96,000 were injured in traffic crashes
(1,2). Alcohol is an important determinant for both the likelihood
of a motor vehicle colliding with a pedestrian and the outcomes for
pedestrians in crashes (3). This report summarizes data from the
Fatal Accident Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) on trends in alcohol use in traffic
fatalities involving pedestrians in the United States during 1982-
1992.
NHTSA considers a fatal crash to be alcohol-related if either
a driver or a nonoccupant (e.g., pedestrian) had a blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) of greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL in a
police-reported traffic crash. NHTSA defines a BAC greater than or
equal to 0.01 g/dL but less than or equal to 0.09 g/dL as a low
alcohol level. A BAC of 0.10 g/dL is the statutory level of
intoxication for drivers in most states, although 10 states have
established lower levels (e.g., 0.08 g/dL) as defining driver
intoxication. There is no statutory level of intoxication for
pedestrians. Because BACs are not available for all drivers and
nonoccupants involved in fatal crashes, NHTSA uses statistical
models, based on discriminant function analysis, to estimate BACs
of drivers and pedestrians where driver or nonoccupant BAC data are
not available (4).
From 1982 through 1992, the number of pedestrians aged greater
than 14 years who were killed decreased 22%, from 6079 to 4770,
with decreases during 1990-1992 accounting for most of this decline
(Table_1). Each year, the percentage of drivers in these
crashes
who had consumed alcohol was substantially lower than the
percentage of pedestrians who had consumed alcohol. In 1982, a BAC
greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL (i.e., intoxication) was
detected in 20% of the drivers involved in fatal pedestrian
crashes, compared with 39% of the fatally injured pedestrians. By
1992, the percentage of drivers who were legally intoxicated
decreased to 12%, and the percentage of pedestrians with BACs
greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL had decreased to 36%.
Because NHTSA's models estimate BACs in only three ranges
(0.00 g/dL, 0.01-0.09 g/dL, and greater than or equal to 0.10
g/dL), additional data regarding BACs were obtained from individual
states. In the 23 states that tested at least 75% of all fatally
injured pedestrians aged greater than 14 years during 1992, 40% of
the pedestrians had consumed alcohol; the national prevalence
estimate based on NHTSA's statistical models was 43% (Table_1).
Of
the fatally injured pedestrians who were tested in these states,
BACs were low (0.01-0.09 g/dL) in 6%, high (0.10-0.19 g/dL) in 12%,
and very high (greater than or equal to 0.20 g/dL) in 22%. Of the
fatally injured pedestrians with BACs greater than or equal to 0.01
g/dL, 55% had a BAC greater than or equal to 0.20 g/dL, 30% had a
BAC of 0.10-0.19 g/dL, and 15% had a BAC of 0.01-0.09 g/dL.
Reported by: D Curtin, J Syner, M Vegega, PhD, Traffic Safety
Programs; National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Research and
Development, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Epidemiology Br, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
CDC. Editorial Note
Editorial Note: The findings in this report indicate that, since
1982, the percentage of drivers involved in fatal pedestrian
crashes in whom alcohol was detected has decreased substantially;
in comparison, the percentage of pedestrians involved in fatal
crashes in whom alcohol was detected has decreased only slightly.
These findings are similar to those reported by the American
College of Surgeons' Major Trauma Outcome Study, in which 49% of
seriously or fatally injured pedestrians consumed alcohol, and 24%
had BACs greater than 0.20 g/dL (NHTSA, US Department of
Transportation, unpublished data, 1992). Substantial progress has
been made in reducing drinking and driving in the United States
(5), and the national health objectives for the year 2000 for
reducing alcohol-related fatalities had already been surpassed by
1991 (objective 4.1) (6). Risk factors for death for
alcohol-impaired pedestrians are not yet well defined (7,8).
Public health strategies that may assist in reducing
alcohol-related pedestrian fatalities include increasing the
priority of preventing pedestrian injuries for public health
agencies, traffic safety offices, and law enforcement officials;
separating pedestrians from traffic lanes using guard rails or
overpasses; providing public education in high-risk locations such
as center-city nightspots; increasing the availability of buses,
taxis, and other forms of public transportation; and increasing
training in responsible alcohol service for establishments that
serve alcohol.
References
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatal Accident
Reporting System, 1992. Washington, DC: US Department of
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (in
press).
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. General
estimates system, 1992. Washington, DC: US Department of
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (in
press).
Jehle D, Cottington E. Effect of alcohol consumption on outcome
of pedestrian victims. Ann Emerg Med 1988;17:953-6.
Klein TM. A method of estimating posterior BAC distribution for
persons involved in fatal traffic accidents: final report.
Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, 1986; report no. DOT-HS-807-094.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Eighth
special report to the U.S. Congress on alcohol and health.
Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services,
National Institutes of Health, 1993.
CDC. Factors potentially associated with reductions in
alcohol-related traffic fatalities -- United States, 1990 and 1991.
MMWR 1992;41:893-9.
Transportation Research Board. Alcohol and other drugs in
transportation: research needs for the next decade. Washington, DC:
National Research Council, Transportation Research Board, 1993;
transportation circular no. 408.
Transportation Research Board. Safety research for a changing
highway environment. Washington, DC: National Research Council,
Transportation Research Board, 1990; special report no. 229.
Table_1
Note:
To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 1. Estimated total number of pedestrian * fatalities in motor-vehicle crashes and
estimated number and percentage in whom alcohol was detected, and estimated total
number of drivers in fatal pedestrian * crashes and estimated number and percentage
in whom alcohol was detected, by year and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level
-- United States, 1982-1992
=================================================================================================================
Pedestrian fatalities Drivers involved in pedestrian fatalities
-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
BAC=0.01-0.09 g/dL BAC>=0.10 g/dL BAC=0.01-1.09 g/dL BAC>=0.10 g/dL
No. ------------------ -------------- No. ------------------ --------------
Year fatalities + No. (%) No. (%) fatalities + No. (%) No. (%)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1982 6079 476 (7.8) 2395 (39.4) 5456 478 (8.8) 1089 (20.0)
1983 5645 451 (8.0) 2196 (38.9) 5107 417 (8.2) 950 (18.6)
1984 5830 427 (7.3) 2230 (38.3) 5363 404 (7.5) 938 (17.5)
1985 5639 474 (8.4) 2097 (37.2) 5169 381 (7.4) 794 (15.4)
1986 5636 460 (8.2) 2060 (36.6) 5210 394 (7.6) 804 (15.4)
1987 5667 459 (8.1) 2023 (35.7) 5224 387 (7.4) 754 (14.4)
1988 5767 422 (7.3) 2022 (35.1) 5291 391 (7.4) 758 (14.3)
1989 5604 446 (8.0) 2028 (36.2) 5155 369 (7.2) 725 (14.1)
1990 5544 381 (6.9) 2002 (36.1) 5127 348 (6.8) 734 (14.3)
1991 4948 331 (6.7) 1795 (36.3) 4609 335 (7.3) 610 (13.2)
1992 4770 332 (7.0) 1727 (36.2) 4468 284 (6.4) 533 (11.9)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Aged >14 years.
+ Includes those with 0.00 BAC.
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
1982-1992.
=================================================================================================================
Return to top.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices. **Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.Page converted: 09/19/98
|
|
