Alcohol and driver fatalities in Israel: An examination of the current problem

Dena H. Jaffe, Bella Savitsky, Konstantin Zaistev, Jehuda Hiss, Kobi Peleg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The role of alcohol in driver fatalities in Israel is unknown, and monitoring blood alcohol concentration among drivers is not routine. Moreover, over the past decade, self-reported access to and consumption of alcohol in Israel has been on the rise. Objectives: To use available data to characterize alcoholrelated driver fatalities. Methods: The prevalence of alcohol-related driver fatalities were estimated for 443 drivers, aged 17+ years, using data from Israel's National Center for Forensic Medicine for 2000-2004. Results: Between 8% and 17% of driver fatalities had a BAC ≥ 0.05 g/dl. Most drivers with alcohol exceeding this level were males aged 21-30 years who died on weekends. Recreational and/or medicinal drugs were found in 6%-11% of driver fatalities. Mean BAC among driver fatalities with BAC ≥ 0.05 g/dl was threefold higher than the legal driving limit and appears to be increasing with time. Conclusions: In light of the evidence suggesting an increasing mean BAC over time as well as reported increasing trends in access to alcohol and consumption, this study should serve as a basis for future research to comprehensively characterize the extent of this problem.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)725-729
Number of pages5
JournalIsrael Medical Association Journal
Volume11
Issue number12
StatePublished - Dec 2009

Keywords

  • Alcohol
  • Blood alcohol
  • Concentration
  • Driver
  • Fatality
  • Motor vehicles
  • Road traffic crashes

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