Injured Intoxicated Drivers: Citation, Conviction, Referral, and Recidivism Rates☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
Although the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are well publicized, DUI remains the most frequently cited cause of death on the nation’s highways. 1, 2 Approximately 500,000 people are injured each year in alcohol-related collisions. Traffic accidents are the No. 1 killer of people between the ages of 5 and 34 years, and alcohol is involved in up to 55% of all fatal crashes. 2 As a result, many states have passed stringent laws to combat this problem. In Ohio alone, more
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective review of the trauma registry at MetroHealth Medical Center was conducted to identify all drivers involved in vehicular accidents within the City of Cleveland who were admitted to the trauma service between January 1993 and April 1995. Drivers were identified by applicable cause of external injury codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. MetroHealth Medical Center is an urban, Level I trauma center. We included only drivers
RESULTS
A total of 211 drivers older than 16 years of age whose crash occurred within the City of Cleveland jurisdiction were admitted to MetroHealth Medical Center’s trauma service between January 1993 and April 1995. Seventy (33%) of these drivers had a BAC of .10 gm% or higher. The BAC of intoxicated drivers ranged from .10 to .42 gm%, with an average (±SD) of .24±.086 gm%. Fifty-one drivers (73%) were men. The mean age of intoxicated drivers was 32±11.8 years.
Twenty-three (32.8%) of the 70 were
DISCUSSION
Several investigators have studied citation and conviction rates for DUI among patients admitted to a trauma service. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 McLaughlin et al 4 reported a conviction rate of 59% among injured intoxicated drivers, compared with 100% for uninjured intoxicated drivers. Rehm et al 5 found that only 14% of 81 intoxicated injured drivers were convicted of their offense. Colquitt et al 6 reported that 42% of 49 injured intoxicated drivers presenting to a Level I trauma center in Grand
References (24)
- et al.
Failure of the legal system to enforce drunk driving legislation effectively
Ann Emerg Med
(1993) - et al.
Enforcement of drunken driving laws in cases including injured intoxicated drivers
Ann Emerg Med
(1996) - et al.
Major injury as a unique opportunity to initiate treatment in the alcoholic
Am J Surg
(1988) - et al.
Emergency intervention to break the cycle of drunken driving and recurrent injury
Ann Emerg Med
(1995) - et al.
Occurrence and patterns of driving behavior for alcoholics in treatment
Drug Alcohol Depend
(1988) Get MADD Again, America
(1991)Alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities among youth and young adults—United States, 1982–1994
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
(1995)- et al.
Ohio Strategies in Handling DWI and DUI Cases.
(1996) - et al.
Hospitalization and injury influence on the prosecution of drunk drivers
Am Surg
(1993) - et al.
Drunk drivers and medical and social injury
N Engl J Med
(1987)
Legal outcome of intoxicated drivers involved in motor vehicle collisions
Driving under the influence: A Level I trauma center’s experience
J Trauma
Cited by (25)
“Residual blood THC levels in frequent cannabis users after over four hours of abstinence: A systematic review.”
2020, Drug and Alcohol DependenceFactors affecting conviction rates of intoxicated driver patients in two large trauma centers
2016, Traffic Injury PreventionLegal consequences for alcohol-impaired drivers injured in motor vehicle collisions: A systematic review
2015, Accident Analysis and PreventionCitation Excerpt :Mortality was reported in nine studies (Barillo, 1993; Criddle and Carson, 1998; Colquitt et al., 1987; Fantus et al., 1991; Goecke et al., 2007; Lahn et al., 2000; Rehm et al., 1993; Runge et al., 1996; Soderstrom et al., 1993) with a median mortality rate of 6.1%. Most studies (Brubacher et al., 2013; Chang et al., 2001; Cheek et al., 2013; Cydulka et al., 1998; Evett et al., 1994; Fantus et al., 1991; Fieldus and Cain, 2012; Holmes et al., 2014; Krause et al., 1998; McLaughlin et al., 1993; Purssell et al., 2004, 2010; Schermer et al., 2001; Soderstrom et al., 1990) excluded drivers who died before discharge or who were not expected to drive again due to their injuries. Five studies (Maull et al., 1984; McLaughlin et al., 1993; Rehm et al., 1993; Soderstrom et al., 1990, 1993) reported on the culpability of intoxicated drivers for causing the MVC, with between 86.7% and 100% (median = 93.9%) of intoxicated drivers found culpable for the crash.
Medical driver selection and alcohol
2009, Forensic Science International Supplement SeriesFactors contributing to the amount of vehicular damage resulting from collisions between four-wheel drive vehicles and passenger cars
2001, Accident Analysis and Prevention
- ☆
From the Departments of Emergency Medicine * and Surgery, ‡ MetroHealth Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH.
- ☆☆
Reprint no. 47/1/92114
- ★
Address for reprints: Rita K Cydulka, MD Emergency Medicine, S1-203 MetroHealth Medical Center 2500 MetroHealth Drive Cleveland, OH 44109 216-778-5088 Fax 216-778-5349