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עמוד בית
Tue, 03.12.24

Original Articles

IMAJ | volume 11

Journal 12, December 2009
pages: 725-729

Alcohol and Driver Fatalities in Israel: An Examination of the Current Problem

    Summary

    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 alcohol-related driver fatalities.

    Methods: The prevalence of alcohol-related driver fatalities were estimated for 443 drivers, ages 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[1] ≥ 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


    [1] BAC = blood alcohol concentration

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