Culpability and Accountability of Hospitalized Injured Alcohol-Impaired Drivers

Abstract

During the three-year period ending October 1982, driver records, crash reports, and blood alcohol concentrations were correlated for 56 alcohol-impaired drivers injured seriously enough to warrant hospital admission. Blood alcohol concentration levels exceeded 0.15 vol% in all patients. Despite a high level of suspicion of alcohol involvement and assessment of culpability by the law enforcement officer at the scene, there were no convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) among this problem-drinker population. Injury seems to offer additional protection from enforcement of DUI statutes and, if the patient survives his injuries, allows the offender to resume driving without interdiction. (JAMA1984;252:1880-1883)