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Compulsory Blood Alcohol Testing of Road Crash Casualties in Victoria: The First Three Years
Author(s) -
McDermott Frank,
Strang Peter
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1978.tb131778.x
Subject(s) - blood alcohol , alcohol , medicine , drunk drivers , poison control , environmental health , occupational safety and health , crash , injury prevention , legislation , suicide prevention , alcohol abuse , human factors and ergonomics , medical emergency , drunk driving , emergency medicine , psychiatry , political science , law , biology , computer science , biochemistry , pathology , programming language
The history, rationale and implementation of legislation for compulsory blood alcohol tests on adult road crash casualties presenting at Victorian hospitals are reviewed. Drinking drivers admitted to casualty departments can now be identified and prosecuted; doctors can obtain blood alcohol test results on road crash casualties without threat of litigation; drinking drivers with alcohol problems may be directed to appropriate reeducation or rehabilitation programmes; the opportunity also exists for treatment of non‐driver casualties with alcohol problems. In the first three years of testing, 27.1% of 21 863 male driver casualties had blood alcohol concentrations in excess of the legal limit of 0.05 g/100 mL (11 mmol/L), and 13.7% had blood alcohol levels in excess of 0.15 g/100 mL (33 mmol/L); the blood alcohol levels in 8.7% of 9187 female driver casualties exceeded 0.05 g/100 mL., and in 3.7% exceeded 0.15 g/100 mL. Non‐drivers had a slightly lower incidence of elevated alcohol concentrations. The implementation of further drink‐driving countermeasures, expansion of services for the management of alcohol problems, and development of a national policy directed at prevention of alcohol abuse are recommended.