Abstract Introduction Data availability has forced researchers to examine separately the role of alcohol among drivers who crashed and drivers who did not crash. Such a separation fails to account fully for the transition from impaired driving to an alcohol-related crash. Method In this study, we analyzed recent data to investigate how traffic-related environments, conditions, and drivers’ demographics shape the likelihood of a driver being either involved in a crash (alcohol impaired or not) or not involved in a crash (alcohol impaired or not). Our data, from a recent case–control study, included a comprehensive sampling of the drivers in nonfatal crashes and a matched set of comparison drivers in two U.S. locations. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to investigate the likelihood that a driver would crash or would not crash, either with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC)=.00 or with a BAC≥.05. Conclusions To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine how different driver characteristics and environmental factors simultaneously contribute to alcohol use by crash-involved and non-crash-involved drivers. This effort calls attention to the need for research on the simultaneous roles played by all the factors that may contribute to motor vehicle crashes.

    Highlights ► Analyses of data from a crash-control study. ► A simultaneous look at alcohol and demographics in the transition to a crash. ► Crash risk for sober drivers was largely defined by demographics and SES. ► Males were overrepresented in impaired driving and crashes. ► Females were more likely to be involved in alcohol-free crashes than male drivers.


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    Title :

    Traffic environment and demographic factors affecting impaired driving and crashes


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2011-12-21


    Size :

    8 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English