scholarly journals Wake Up America and Save Lives!!! Move the Drunk Driving Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Cut-off to 0.05%!!!

Author(s):  
Zohr Tylor ◽  
Nwobi Edison ◽  
Masri-zada Tariq ◽  
Andrews Jessica ◽  
Head Tyiesha ◽  
...  
1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
A W Jones

This article describes a drink-driving scenario where a woman was apprehended for driving under the influence (DUI) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 256mg/dl1 The correctness of this result was vigorously challenged by a medical expert witness for the defence, who was actually a specialist in alcohol diseases. Despite reanalysis to confirm the BAC as well as a DNA profile to prove the identity of the blood specimen, the woman was acquitted of the charge of drunk driving by the lower court. However, she was subsequently found guilty in the High Court of Appeals with a unanimous decision and sentenced to four weeks imprisonment. This case report illustrates some of the problems surrounding the use of expert medical evidence by the defence to challenge the validity of the prosecution evidence based solely on a suspect's BAC. In situations such as these, an expert witness should be called by the prosecution to clarify and, if necessary, rebut medical and/or scientific opinions that might mislead the court and influence the outcome of the trial.


Author(s):  
Yuhuan Zhang ◽  
Huapu Lu ◽  
Wencong Qu

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of stratification heterogeneity in traffic accidents in Shenzhen, what factors influence the casualties, and the interaction of those factors. Geographical detection methods are used for the analysis of traffic accidents in Shenzhen. Results show that spatial stratification heterogeneity does exist, and the influencing factors of fatalities and injuries are different. The traffic accident causes and types of primary responsible party have a strong impact on fatalities and injuries, followed by zones and time interval. However, road factors, lighting, topography, etc., only have a certain impact on fatalities. Drunk driving, speeding over 50%, and overloading are more likely to cause more casualties than other illegal behaviors. Speeding over 50% and speeding below 50% have significant different influences on fatalities, while the influences on injuries are not obvious, and so do drunk driving (Blood Alcohol Concentration ≥ 0.08) and driving under the influence of alcohol (0.08 > Blood Alcohol Concentration ≥ 0.02). Both pedestrians and cyclists violating the traffic law are vulnerable to fatality. Heavy truck overloading is more likely to cause major traffic accidents than minibuses. More importantly, there are nonlinear enhanced interactions between the influencing factors, the combination of previous non-significant factors and other factors can have a significant impact on the traffic accident casualties. The findings could be helpful for making differentiated prevention and control measures for traffic accidents in Shenzhen and the method selection of subsequent research.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Bergman ◽  
Beata Hubicka ◽  
Hans Laurell

The purpose of the study was to map alcohol problems in relation to blood alcohol concentration in a large representative sample of male and female Swedish drivers suspected of drunk driving. Twenty-one hundred suspected DUI offenders (drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol) were assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Information from the police regarding BAC, age, gender, and place and time of the stop was also collected. More than half (58%) of the suspected DUI offenders had alcohol problems, and among these 24% had high levels of alcohol problems. Of specific interest was the observation that almost half (46%) of the suspects with a BAC below the Swedish legal limit of 0.02% had alcohol problems, a prevalence that did not increase until a BAC of 0.10%–0.15%. It can be concluded that the mere suspicion of drunk driving indicates alcohol problems.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2407-2410
Author(s):  
Dan Perju Dumbrava ◽  
Carmen Corina Radu ◽  
Sofia David ◽  
Tatiana Iov ◽  
Catalin Jan Iov ◽  
...  

Considering the growing number of requests from the criminal investigations authorities addressed to the institutions of legal medicine, testing of blood alcohol concentration both in the living person and in the corpse, we believe that a presentation of the two methods which are used in our country, is a topic of interest at present. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with the technical details on how blodd alcohol concentration is realised by means of the gas chromatographic method and the classical one, (Cordebard modified by D. Banciu and I. Droc) respectively. Another purpose of this article is to also show, in a comparative way, the elements that make the gas chromatographic method superior to the former one.


Author(s):  
R. Wade Allen ◽  
Zareh Parseghian ◽  
Anthony C. Stein

There is a large body of research that documents the impairing effect of alcohol on driving behavior and performance. Some of the most significant alcohol influence seems to occur in divided attention situations when the driver must simultaneously attend to several aspects of the driving task. This paper describes a driving simulator study of the effect of a low alcohol dose, .055 BAC (blood alcohol concentration %/wt), on divided attention performance. The simulation was mechanized on a PC and presented visual and auditory feedback in a truck cab surround. Subjects were required to control speed and steering on a rural two lane road while attending to a peripheral secondary task. The subject population was composed of 33 heavy equipment operators who were tested during both placebo and drinking sessions. Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed a significant and practical alcohol effect on a range of variables in the divided attention driving task.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 1238-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teri L. Martin ◽  
Patricia A. M. Solbeck ◽  
Daryl J. Mayers ◽  
Robert M. Langille ◽  
Yvona Buczek ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Hughes ◽  
Zara Quigg ◽  
Mark A Bellis ◽  
Ninette van Hasselt ◽  
Amador Calafat ◽  
...  

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