Accident; analysis and prevention
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This study examined the incidence of alcohol and drugs in a sample of seriously injured motor vehicle collision victims, and differences related to pre-crash use of alcohol and/or other drugs on demographic variables, injury severity measures, and crash variables. The sample selected were all motor vehicle collision admissions to the Regional Trauma Unit at the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto, Ontario, over a 37-month period (N = 854). Prospective demographic and injury-related information were collected from hospital charts, and crash data were collected from motor vehicle collision police reports. ⋯ Elapsed time was found to be significantly different for BAC by other drug use, with a greater length of elapsed time found for the subjects testing other drug positive but BAC negative. We found that BAC-positive drug-screened drivers were significantly more likely to be male, involved in a single-vehicle collision, not wearing a seat belt, ejected from the vehicle, and travelling at higher speeds than BAC negative drivers. No significant differences were found between BAC and/or other drug use on injury severity measures.
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We developed a computerized surveillance database employing the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and sampled three months of nonfatal injuries at a large industrial facility. Data from 197 injury visits to the plant medical department were collected. ⋯ Neither Maximum AIS nor Injury Severity Score (ISS) predicted restricted or lost work time. Because of its ease of automation and reliability, the AIS can serve as a useful tool for occupational injury surveillance, but its current severity scoring system is not predictive of disability.
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Drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 mph were identified and ticketed by the Charleston County, South Carolina police using two types of speed measuring devices: conventional police radar and a new laser device. The two types of enforcement were used alternately on the same roads at similar times. Under the laser enforcement condition, the police issued 534 tickets (54%) compared with 457 (46%) under radar enforcement. ⋯ Speeders ticketed under the laser enforcement condition were four times as likely to have radar detectors as those ticketed under the radar enforcement condition. Most of the additional speeders caught by the laser were using radar detectors. These data indicate that some speeders with radar detectors are avoiding detection when the police enforce the limit with radar.