Goal on Curbing Alcohol-Related Traffic Deaths Is Proving
Elusive

By BRIAN WINGFIELD – New York Times

Published: January 15, 2005

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 – The government is falling short of its
longstanding goal for cutting the nation’s alcohol-related traffic
deaths, and traffic fatalities involving drinking remain stubbornly
stable at about 17,000 a year, according to transportation safety
officials and private groups.

Meeting the target, they say, might save as many as 1,700 lives a
year.

Federal and state safety officials spoke of meeting the lower target
by the end of 2004, and although the final data have not been assembled,
they now say the efforts will probably fall short.

“To be intellectually honest with you, I don’t think we’re going to
make it,” Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge, the administrator of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, said Thursday in an interview.

In 2001, in an effort to focus on a single nationwide goal, the agency
aimed to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths to a rate of 0.53 per 100
million miles traveled by all vehicles by the end of 2004.

In 2003, the most recent year for which comprehensive statistics are
available, the rate was 0.59. While the figure has been going down, to
reach the target it would have had to plummet by an additional 10 percent
last year, much faster than in previous years.

In 2003, there were 17,013 deaths in alcohol-related traffic
accidents, the fewest since 1999.

Throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s, alcohol-related traffic
fatality rates did drop steadily as the government and many private
organizations, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, waged highly
publicized campaigns to curb drinking and driving and states tightened
laws against drinking and driving.

In recent years, the absolute number of alcohol-related traffic deaths
has hit a plateau, just over 17,000 a year, and officials said it had
been hard to keep the issue in the public eye. Wendy Hamilton, the
national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said that “people
think the problem’s been solved.”

Earlier this week, Mothers Against Drunk Driving held a news
conference to call for the greater use of “high-visibility law
enforcement,” like sobriety checkpoints. In particular, the organization
would like to see 10 states – Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon,
Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming – change their
laws to allow such checkpoints.

Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety
Association, a nonprofit organization that represents states’ highway
safety concerns, said: “States are cutting back on law enforcement right
now, they’re diverting law enforcement to homeland security, and law
enforcement officers are retiring. Resources are stretched thin.”

Dr. Runge, of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said
that in the short term, highly visible enforcement efforts were the best
way to remind people that drunken driving was still an issue.

He said some states with high alcohol-related traffic fatality rates
had not done much with the federal government to reduce deaths. But he
listed 13 states with severe impaired-driving problems that appeared
willing to improve: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas
and West Virginia.

“If we can get those states to the national average, we’ll be 80
percent of the way to meeting our goal,” Dr. Runge said.

Big Drop in
Drunk-Driving Deaths – Tough Laws, Awareness Credited

Sunday, January 4, 2004

By Allison Steele

Monitor Staff

In 1982, 111 people were killed in drunk-driving deaths on New
Hampshire roads. In 2002: just 51.

Drunk-driving deaths on New Hampshire roads have decreased
dramatically in the last 20 years, a decline attributed to a combination
of public awareness and tough new laws.

In 1982, 111 people were killed in alcohol-related accidents in New
Hampshire. In 1992, that figure had dropped to just 40, an all-time low.
In 2002, it was 51.

The federal government compares drunk driving fatalities to the total
number of highway miles driven each year. Measured that way, New
Hampshire’s rate has declined 74 percent over 20 years.

Most of the rest of the country has seen similar declines, a recent
study by the federal Department of Transportation shows. But nationwide,
the number of drunk-driving deaths has begun creeping upward again in the
past three years.

Experts see the numbers as evidence that some drivers may be growing
inured to the warnings of the danger of impaired driving.

“A lot of people thought this problem was solved a long time ago,”
said Kathryn Henry, spokeswoman for the national Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. “We saw tremendous progress in the ’80s and ’90s. And now
it’s flattened out.”

A New World

For New Hampshire police officers, the dramatic decline over the past
two decades has meant significant changes in their work.

In Henniker, for example, New Year’s Eve 1989 was one busy night for
the police department. That was the year the department began 24-hour
coverage; until then, officers had stopped work at 1 a.m. The additional
patrols pulled in dozens of drunk-driving arrests that year, said Chief
Tim Russell, and similar numbers in the years that followed.

But by the mid-1990s, driving while intoxicated arrests were dropping
off. Now, New Year’s Eve and other traditionally driver-risky holidays
are among the department’s quietest nights. This year was no different:
no major accidents, no drunk-driving fatalities.

“We see less (DWIs) on those nights because they know we’re out in
force,” Russell said. “They carpool; they designate a driver. If people
would practice the same alternative driving plans year round as they do
on New Year’s, we wouldn’t have nearly so much of a problem.”

New Hampshire law now takes drunk driving fairly seriously: a
mandatory 90-day license revocation for a first offense, and a Class B
felony conviction for a third. In 1994, the state lowered the level of
blood alcohol required to be considered drunk from 0.10 to 0.08. A law
that took effect Thursday requires all first-time drunken drivers to
complete an impaired driver intervention program.

And state lawmakers have proposed laws to further criminalize drunk
driving. A bill sponsored by state Reps. Richard Morris and David Welch
would increase jail time for second-time offenders and make a first-time
offense a misdemeanor instead of a violation.

Welch said he hoped the bill would also emphasize the treatment of
alcohol problems. Since drunk driving is often an indication of a serious
drinking problem, he said stiffer penalties could help force people into
treatment programs.

“We’re hoping if we make punishments a little tougher, the idea will
be that it could get some people into treatment sooner,” he said. “My
feeling has always been that a first offender ought to have jail time.
I’m a very strong proponent of getting the message out there that if you
drink and drive, you’re going to go to jail.”

‘A jetliner every two days’

Across the country, more than 17,000 people died in alcohol-related
crashes in 2002, said Henry, about 41 percent of all traffic fatalities.
Large as that number may be, in 1982 the statistics were far more grim:
more than 26,000 people.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving was born in the early 1980s to target
the problem, and groups like DARE started devoting more attention to
drunk driving. Public awareness campaigns throughout the 1980s and ’90s
encouraged partygoers to call cabs, stay overnight or use designated
drivers, and the country’s rate of alcohol-related driving deaths
decreased steadily for almost two decades.

But now, Henry said, the “don’t drink and drive” campaigns that were
so successful in years past have become part of the national backdrop.
The country’s youngest generation of drivers, the population most at risk
for drunk-driving deaths, pays less attention to the rhetoric than did
teenagers and young adults in years past. And each year, a new generation
of drivers turns 21.

“We lose enough people to fill the equivalent of a jetliner every two
days to impaired driving,” Henry said. “If that happened, if planes were
falling out of the sky, this would be a huge issue on the front page of
every newspaper. But this is such an insidious problem. It happens in
remote places, every day, every 32 minutes.”

Not only are people more aware now of the dangers of driving while
impaired, cars are safer and laws in many states are stricter than they
were in 1982. However, Henry said, there remain dramatic inconsistencies
nationwide about how to deal with drunk-driving offenders. While some
states have adopted laws aimed at cracking down on drunk driving,
offenders in other states are often not prosecuted fully and get off with
relatively light punishments. Though the legal intoxication limit has
been designated as a blood alcohol level of 0.08 in most states, a
handful of states have left it at 0.10.

As states have lowered the legal blood alcohol level, the rate of
drunk-driving deaths often drop immediately. Drunk-driving deaths were
increasing in Rhode Island, with the state seeing a 30 percent increase
in fatalities over the past three years. In 2000 the legal blood alcohol
limit was changed to 0.08, and in the past year the deaths have dropped
by 7 percent. Colorado, one of the last states to maintain a 0.10 blood
alcohol level, has made consistently less progress than the rest of the
country in curbing the numbers of people killed in drunk-driving
crashes.

In the nine years since New Hampshire lowered its blood-alcohol level,
drunk-driving deaths have fluctuated between 50 and 67 a year.

Public Awareness

For many drivers, the threat of a fatal drunk-driving accident is
still more than enough to guide them into safe choices, said Don
Lesperance, owner of the Lakes Region Driver’s Education school. As with
all driving schools certified by the state, he’s required to teach a
minimum of eight hours about impaired driving. He doesn’t show the
gruesome movies about carnage on the highways, opting instead for films
about families that experience a death or movies that illuminate the
circumstances that can lead to tragic accidents.

“You look around the room and the kids are practically crying by the
end,” he said. “If we’re making a difference (in drunk-driving deaths)
that’s also a sign of the times, that kids are much smarter than that.
And not just about the ramifications of losing their license, in terms of
losing their friends.”

In addition to films, handouts and books, Lesperance said most kids
hear speakers on drunk driving in school. And sadly, many know someone
who died in an alcohol-related accident by the time they reach high
school.

“There’s been such a change in social attitudes,” he said. “Parents
these days tell their kids to call them and tell them to come get them if
they don’t have any other way of getting home. My parents didn’t talk to
me like that. And not that it always works that way, but it makes a huge
difference as far as a kid’s mindset goes. They know they have
options.”

Making people aware of those options is key, as far as organizations
like Henry’s are concerned. In light of the recent upswing in
drunk-driving fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration is preparing to unveil a new round of public awareness
campaigns. These will go beyond the usual drunk-driving message, Henry
said, and focus on “buzz driving.”

“A lot of these people think you have to be rip-roaring drunk to be
considered impaired,” she said. “We’re trying to get into the language
that hey, maybe it’s not okay to drive if you’ve just had a few. Do you
want to be flown in a plane by a pilot who’s just had a few? Do you want
to be operated on by someone who’s just had a few?”

The idea is not to preach against alcohol, Henry said, but to try and
reach some of the people for whom the years of “don’t drink and drive”
has not worked.

“The bottom line is that there’s a certain amount of the population
you can reach with public awareness, and those are the people who will
designate a driver, who will make the decision not to take a chance,”
Henry said.

“It’s similar to what you saw with the AIDS awareness movement,
encouraging people to use condoms. It was something they can grab onto.
It worked really well, and it does work really well. But now there’s a
whole new generation who are used to hearing it, and they need something
else.”

Increase in Drunk Driving Crashes

A 2005 study compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found
drunk driving to be on the rise, and the steady decline that started in
the early ’90s had come to an end.

The rate of drunk driving accidents in the United States rose 37%
between 1997 and 1999, and continued to rise sharply in subsequent years.
According to the report, which was published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, by the year
2002 the number had reached a heavy total of 159 alcohol-related
accidents.

Before this the numbers were more hopeful. Between 1993 and 1997 the
amount of alcohol-related accidents dropped more than 1%, from 123
million to 116 million.

With the rise in alcohol-related accidents comes a higher number of
drunk-driving fatalities. From 1999 to 2003, the number of deaths due to
drunk driving crashes rose approximately 2.5% to 17,013. Auto accidents
are the leading cause of death in Americans under the age of 34,
according to CDC findings. A shocking 30% of Americans will
experience an alcohol-related accident in their life at some point. The
economic burden of these accidents totals more than $50 billion each
year.

Many of the accident counts come from telephone surveys that collected
information on the drinking habits of more than 100,000 Americans.
Callers questioned interviewees about how often they drink, and how often
they drive when intoxicated.

The rise in deaths may be correlated with a rise in binge drinking,
defined as drinking at least five drinks at a time. People who binge
drink were found to be 13 times more likely to drink while
intoxicated.

Dr. Robert H. Brewer, alcohol team leader at the CDC, suggested
programs that can be implemented at the local and state levels that could
aid in reversing this trend. Stricter enforcement of the drinking age
law, cutting down the number of liquor licenses, and increasing taxes on
alcohol could turn the tide on drinking overall.

April 21, 2005

Alcohol-Related Car Deaths Down in 2004

By KEN THOMAS

The Associated Press

Monday, August 22, 2005; 6:46 PM

WASHINGTON – Drunken-driving deaths declined slightly across the
nation and fell in 32 states last year, traffic safety officials said
Monday in beginning a campaign to crack down on drunken driving during
the Labor Day holiday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 2
percent decrease in fatal crashes in 2004 involving at least a driver or
a motorcycle rider with an illegal blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or
higher.

The government said 12,874 motorists died under those circumstances in
2004, compared with 13,096 in 2003. All 50 states had a 0.08 standard
with Minnesota’s adoption of the law earlier this year.

NHTSA said a record number of 11,500 law enforcement officials would
participate in its annual campaign, called “You Drink & Drive. You
Lose.” The crackdown, which runs through Sept. 5, will be bolstered by
$13.9 million in advertising.

Texas saw a 10 percent reduction in its alcohol-related fatalities,
accounting for 141 fewer deaths than in 2003. Others making significant
reductions included Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and the District of
Columbia.

Kansas, which had a 29 percent decrease in alcohol-related fatalities
in 2004, has targeted drunken driving through media campaigns, use of
sobriety checkpoints and extra law enforcement patrols during weekends
and at special events.

“We’re getting more and more local law enforcement involved in our
mobilizations,” said Pete Bodyk of the Kansas Department of
Transportation.

Utah had an 81 percent increase in alcohol-related fatalities,
representing 29 more deaths in 2004 compared with the previous year. Mark
Panos, deputy director of the Utah Highway Safety Office, attributed some
of the growth to an increase in the number of motorists on the road as
its population expands.

Several Southern states, including Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, North
Carolina and Tennessee, also posted higher fatality numbers.

Glynn Birch, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said his
organization was advising people to designate a sober driver before they
attend gatherings during the Labor Day holiday.

“It’s important to note that impairment begins with the first drink,
so your safest choice is to use public transportation, take a cab or find
a sober driver,” Birch said.

Drinking And Driving Fatalities Increase

ITASCA, Ill., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Fatal injuries increased for the
third straight year, according to a report released today by the National
Safety Council. The council’s 1996 “Accident Facts,” its 76th annual
report on injuries in America, shows that deaths caused by fatal injuries
increased to 93,300 in 1995, a two percent increase from 91,400 deaths in
1994. Since 1992, when deaths reached a 68-year low of 86,777, fatalities
have increased eight percent.

“The third increase in a row is a major cause for concern,” said
council President Jerry Scannell. “The continued growth in the economy
can explain some, but not all, of the increase. This report clearly
demonstrates that a redoubling of injury prevention efforts is necessary.
Increasing traffic law enforcement and adopting stronger legislation can
save more lives. Always wearing a safety belt and never drinking and
driving are two choices everyone can make to substantially decrease the
risk of injury,” Scannell added.

Motor vehicle crashes caused 43,900 deaths in 1995 — a three percent
increase from 1994. Council officials say an increase in drinking and
driving fatalities added to the rise in deaths. Alcohol-related traffic
fatalities increased by 4 percent last year for the first time in ten
years. In 1995, 41 percent of traffic fatalities involved alcohol,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“Sadly, the ‘don’t drink and drive’ message is being ignored by more
people. Tougher laws against drunk driving, such as license revocation,
.08 BAC, and stronger, high visibility enforcement are the proven ways to
reverse the increase,” said Scannell.

Although the council believes higher speed limits will lead to
increased fatalities, the specific effects of the 1995 congressional
action to repeal the National Maximum Speed Limit will not be known for
at least a year, according to Alan Hoskin, the council’s statistics
manager. “We need to look at a full year of data before we really know
what effect the law’s repeal has had,” Hoskin said.

Motor vehicle crashes are the single greatest cause of death due to
fatal injuries, accounting for nearly half of the 1995 death total.
Injuries in the home caused 26,400 deaths, injuries in public places
caused 20,100 deaths and work injuries caused 5,300 fatalities.

Poisoning Deaths Increase Poisonings by solids and liquids caused
10,000 deaths in 1995 — an 11 percent increase from the previous year.
Since 1985, poisonings have increased by 144 percent. A surge in drug
overdoses, primarily cocaine, is the main reason for the increase. For
the first time, poisonings caused more deaths in the home than falls.

At home, work and in public places, falls caused 12,600 deaths; 4,500
people died from drowning; 4,100 died from fires and burns; and, 1,400
people died from unintentional firearms injuries.

Cost To Society

The council estimates that injuries cost society $434.8 billion in
1995. This includes estimates of economic costs of fatal and nonfatal
unintentional injuries together with employer costs, vehicle damage costs
and fire losses. The costs by class were: motor vehicle, $170.6 billion;
work, $119.4; and, home and public, $158.4 billion. In 1995, fatal
injuries were the fifth leading cause of death behind heart disease,
cancer, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Further information, including charts and tables, is available by
accessing the council’s home page at http://www.nsc.org.

The National Safety Council is a not-for-profit, nongovernmental
international public service organization dedicated to reducing fatal
injuries.

Mother Makes Tearful Plea in Court

Merced, CA – A man arrested for drunkenly running over and killing his
own child faces DUI and manslaughter charges in Merced County in
California’s Central Valley. According to the California Highway Patrol,
Silva was driving his SUV home on Tuesday night when he ran into his
7-year-old daughter, who had gone out to take the dog for a walk.

At the trial, the wife of Jesus Silva told the county judge that she
forgives her husband, that he was a wonderful father, and that he merits
the right to be attend his daughter’s funeral. The judge agreed to grant
Silva a pass to be present at his daughter’s funeral, but also doubled
the bail to $150,000 Friday on DUI and manslaughter charges.

October 15, 2004

By KIM BRADLEY — Staff Writer

Dean Cardinal watched in horror as his drunken little brother was run
down by a semi after throwing up beside a northern Alberta highway.

Cardinal said he and his 22-year-old brother Francis had been out with
their cousin, Richard Beauregard, in Slave Lake and were on their way
home to Wabasca about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when the accident happened.

Francis had had too much to drink and needed to throw up, so
Beauregard pulled the truck over to the side of Highway 754, five
kilometres north of Highway 88 between Slave Lake and Wabasca, to let him
out, said Cardinal.

“He went to the other side of the road and when he was coming back the
truck was too close,” he said, his voice trailing off. “We tried to wave
but he couldn’t see us. The truck hit the brakes and that was it. I don’t
know what to think today.”

Slave Lake RCMP are still investigating the cause of the accident and
said yesterday no charges had been laid. They say alcohol was a
factor.

Jean Beauregard, who saw her son for the last time the day he died,
said he was a good kid who had just got a new job after being laid off
from his seasonal job.

“We were very close,” she said tearfully. “I lost one son two years
ago and now I’ve lost another one.”

In 1995, she said, Francis’s life changed dramatically when one of his
three brothers committed suicide.

The two will be buried side by side in a cemetery near their home, she
said. Francis’s funeral arrangements were still being finalized
yesterday. Wabasca is 150 km north of Slave Lake, which is 250 northwest
of Edmonton.

FACTS ON: DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED

By John Brick, Ph.D., F.A.C.A.

Traffic accidents account for more deaths of individuals between age 6
and 33 than any other type of accident. Although many factors contribute
to highway accidents including highway and vehicle design, traffic
volume, driver characteristics (e.g., experience, personality), and the
mechanical function of the motor vehicle, the single most significant
predictor of an accident is the driver’s state of sobriety. The results
from experimental and epidemiological studies indicate that alcohol
intoxication greatly increases the risk of accidents. Many sources state
that about half of all fatal traffic accidents involve alcohol; however,
such reporting should not be interpreted to mean that alcohol
intoxication caused the accident. The fact that a driver is intoxicated
does not mean s/he caused the accident. However, when the intoxicated
driver is assumed responsible, the relative risk of “crash probability”
clearly increases as a function of blood alcohol concentration or %BAC
(see figure). For example, in 1992, alcohol-related accidents resulted in
approximately 20,000 fatalities.

Driving under the influence of drugs other than alcohol may increase
the relative risk of a motor vehicle accident as well but epidemiological
studies similar to those conducted with alcohol are not yet available. In
those field studies in which marijuana was detected, for example, alcohol
was often present in high enough amounts so that alcohol intoxication
alone could have accounted for the accident. Even so, many of the effects
of marijuana (e.g., memory lapses, distortion of time) are likely to
interfere with the ability to drive safely.

The effects of cocaine on driving ability and risk for accidents are
equivocal at best. Although cocaine may alter vision (e.g. hallucinatory
“snow lights”, sensitivity to light) and mood (euphoria, depression,
paranoia, etc.) at the present time it is speculative as to whether such
effects are present to the extent that they will affect driving. In the
future, drug screens may routinely be given following all accidents and
more will be learned regarding the relationship between cocaine use and
other drugs on driving ability. Other related but less well-studied
public health risks include pedestrian, bicycling, and watercraft
accidents that occur during intoxication. Because alcohol use is many
times more prevalent than other drugs, much more is known about the
relationship between alcohol intoxication and driving. Generally, alcohol
is a central nervous system depressant that causes a dose-dependent
decrease in cognitive and motor functioning. As the blood alcohol level
rises, the signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication increase in number
and intensity so that laws restricting drinking and driving are
necessary.

In response to the many problems that befall society as a result of
drinking and driving, most states have what is called a
–per se†statute. A per se statute defines
the BAC at which it is presumed that all drivers are intoxicated and
cannot drive safely. Blood alcohol levels are usually measured and
defined by most legislatures as the number of grams (g) or milligrams
(mg) of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood (100 milliliters is usually
called a deciliter or dl). Most law enforcement agencies use instruments
that measure alcohol in breath and in some states the drinking/driving
statute is written in terms of blood or breath alcohol concentration.

Persons can be convicted of intoxicated driving under a per se
conviction regardless of their actual driving performance at the time of
arrest. The majority of states use .10 grams % (the same as 100 mg/dl) as
prima facie evidence for drunk driving (i.e., .10% alone is enough
evidence to justify a conviction). At the present time California, Maine,
Oregon, Utah, and Vermont use .08% as a per se violation, and most
European countries have adopted a blood alcohol level of .05%-.08% to
define legal intoxication. It has been recommended that all states make
it a per se criminal offense to drive with a blood alcohol level of .08%
or more. For drivers under the age of 21, some states have a “zero
tolerance law” in which the standard for legal intoxication is .02%.

More is known about the relationship between alcohol intoxication and
driving than about driving and any other drug. While people of all types
and backgrounds drink and drive, the most consistent profile for drivers
arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol is that they tend to
be men, 20-40 years of age with some history of problem drinking. About
twice as many men than women are involved in fatal motor vehicle
accidents when the blood alcohol level is greater than .10%. Although
beer is reported as the most commonly consumed beverage prior to the
crash, the type of beverage alcohol bears no relationship to driving
impairment. Other statistical correlations with driving while intoxicated
include being divorced or separated and having a low income, and previous
DWI arrests and moving violations involving the use of alcohol.
Consistent with drinking patterns and driving after a night partying,
most drinking/driving accidents occur late at night and on weekends.

Laboratory studies designed to evaluate the effects of alcohol on
psychomotor performance reveal that alcohol affects vision, eye-hand
coordination and reaction time only at moderate to high doses (generally
at blood alcohol levels well above .10%). However, the most relevant
driving-related behaviors affected by alcohol are probably divided
attention tasks. Alcohol impairs the ability to attend and respond to
complex stimuli at very low BACs ( e.g., .02%†.03%). It
is believed that such laboratory findings translate well to real-world
driving situations where it is necessary to pay attention to many
different events, such as road and traffic conditions, speed, traffic
control devices, lane position, pedestrians, other vehicles, roadway
signs, etc., often in a nearly simultaneous fashion.

On closed-course driving tests, at BACs of about .06%-.09%,
variability in lane position and brake use increased and steering ability
decreased. Using a driving simulator approach, it has been found that at
BACs approaching .10%, there are increases in braking (up to 45%), and
gear changing and steering errors. In some laboratory tests, alcohol
produces impairment on complex tests when blood levels are as low as
about .02%. Epidemiological data indicate that the risk for an accident
begins to increase at blood alcohol levels above .05% so that at .08% the
risk of an accident is about 5 times greater than when sober. However,
the probability of being innocently involved in an accident remains level
and does not increase with increasing BACs. In other words, alcohol
intoxication, even at high levels, does not significantly change the
relative risk of an accident when other drivers or factors are found to
be responsible for the accident.

Numerous behavioral tests are used to determine if an individual is
intoxicated. Often these tests are not quantitative. Three tests
recommended by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and commonly
used to screen suspected intoxicated drivers at the roadside were
designed to discriminate drivers above .10%. The recommended tests are:
the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn Test and One Leg Balance
Test. The nystagmus test measures eye movements during a simple tracking
task. Alcohol intoxication (as well as some neurological conditions) may
result in jerky eye movements. The Walk and Turn Test measures the
ability to walk a straight line in a heel-to-toe manner, turn on one foot
and walk back. Alcohol intoxication may result in walking off the line,
inability to turn and failure to follow instructions (e.g., keeping arms
at sides, walking a fixed number of steps). The One Leg Balance Test is a
divided attention-type task that measures the ability to balance with one
leg raised six inches off the ground while counting aloud rapidly from
1001-1030. Alcohol intoxication may make it difficult to stand without
putting your foot down and/or making counting errors. According to the
DOT, when properly administered and scored, these psychophysical tests
have the following accuracy in determining intoxication above .10% BAC:
Nystagmus Gaze: 77-82%, Walk and Turn: 68-80%; One Leg Balance: 65-78%.
For law enforcement purposes, behavioral tests coupled with an objective
blood or breath alcohol test, provide convincing evidence of impairment
due to alcohol use.

When a laboratory test is administered to an intoxicated person it is
fairly easy to detect intoxication. However, in the absence of specific
tests, it is difficult to reliably detect intoxication until the person
is well above most current legal limits for intoxication. Reliable signs
and symptoms of alcohol intoxication will not be present until the blood
alcohol level reaches about .15%. Above this level, signs and symptoms of
intoxication may include one or more of the following: stumbling,
inability to walk or stand normally, and changes in speech, affect, or
various psychomotor skills, depending upon individual differences and
actual blood alcohol level. At a blood alcohol level of .15%, the
relative risk for an accident is nearly 20 times greater than when sober.
In other words, when you see someone that clearly
–looks†drunk, that person will not be
able to safely drive a car regardless of how they feel or their previous
drinking experiences.

References:

Borkenstein, R.B., Crother, R.F., Shumate, R.P., Zeil, W.B. &
Zylman, R. (1974). The role of the drinking driver in traffic accidents
(The Grand Rapids Study). Bluthkohol, 11, 1-131.

Brick, J. (1990). Marijuana. New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers Center of
Alcohol Studies.

Brick, J., Adler, J., Cocco, K. and Westrick, E. (1992). Alcohol
intoxication: Pharmacokinetic prediction and behavioral analysis. Current
Topics in Pharmacology, 1, 57-67.

MacAvoy, M.G. & Marks, D.F. (1975). Divided attention performance
on cannabis users and non-users following cannabis and alcohol.
Psychopharmacology, 44, 147-152.

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Adrian, MI-A woman with a blood alcohol content three times that of the legal limit
pleaded guilty to drunk driving and admitted that she had drunk three
glasses of Listerine.

Carol Ries, 50, was immediately pulled over by police after she
crashed into the back of a car at a stoplight. Ries admitted that she had
consumed Listerine that afternoon, and police in fact found a bottle of
the Pfizer-manufactured mouthwash in the woman’s car.

While her BAC from a Breathalyzer test was lower than the
0.08 legal limit, a second-and less forgiving-test was administered to
her with a different device. It measured her BAC at 0.30.

Listerine contains between 26.9% and 21.6% alcohol, depending on the
variety.

Prosecutors have discarded a charge for having an open bottle of
alcohol in the car, but Ries may still have to serve up to 93 days in
Jail and a $500 fine for drunk driving.

January 21, 2005