Notice to Readers
Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Motor-Vehicle Crashes -- United
States, 1996-1997
The table and figure (Figure_1) on page 1063 compare
alcohol
involvement in fatal motor-vehicle crashes for 1996 and 1997. 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
decreased by 6% from 1996 to 1997; for BACs of 0.01-0.09 g/dL, the
decrease was 7.7%, and for BACs greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL
(the legal limit of intoxication in most states), the decrease was
5.5%. Reductions were seen among all age groups.
Reference
Klein TM. A method for 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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