Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Motor-Vehicle Crashes -- United
States, 1994-1995
The figure (Figure_1) on page 1067 compares alcohol
involvement in fatal motor-vehicle crashes for 1994 and 1995. A
fatal
crash is considered alcohol-related by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) if either a driver or 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. Because
BACs are not available for all persons in fatal crashes, NHTSA
estimates the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities based on
a discriminant analysis of information from all cases for which
driver or nonoccupant BAC data are available (1).
Overall, the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities
increased 4.1% from 1994 to 1995; for BACs of 0.01 g/dL-0.09 g/dL,
the increase was 6.5%, for BACs greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL
(the legal limit of intoxication in most states), the increase was
3.4%.
Reference
Klein TM. A method of estimating posterior BAC distributions 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.
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