Crash Risk Associated with Drug and Alcohol Use by Drivers in Fatal and Serious Injury Crashes

In 2010 and 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted the first large-scale carefully controlled study in the United States (U.S.) designed to estimate the relative crash risk associated with drug use by drivers. Using a case-control design, researchers collected information from more than 3,000 crash-involved and 6,000 non-crash involved (control) drivers in Virginia Beach, Virginia. While the sampling approach used in the Virginia Beach crash risk study was representative of crashes across the country in terms of severity, it is possible that the inclusion of such a large proportion of property damage crashes affected the resulting crash risk estimates. In order to remove this possible effect and to further refine our understanding of the risk of alcohol and drug use by drivers, this crash risk study will focus solely on drivers involved in serious injury and fatal crashes and will not be examine property-damage only crashes. The objective of this research is to estimate the crash risk associated with alcohol and drug use by drivers involved in serious injury and fatal crashes and matched non-crash involved control drivers in one or more site(s). The study shall include over-the-counter, prescription, and illegal drugs; as well as alcohol. Data will include breath, oral fluid and blood samples and will be collected from one or more Level 1 Trauma Center(s) or System(s). To obtain a large enough sample size, the Center(s) will need to be large enough to receive a large volume of drivers involved in traffic crashes. The Trauma Center(s) will likely serve large metropolitan areas; however, they may also receive patients from a larger geographical area. The targeted sample size is 2,500 crash-involved drivers and 5,000 control drivers.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $6468991
• Contract Numbers:

  DTNH2211D00225-0006

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, D.C.  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Berning, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  Dunlap and Associates, Incorporated

  110 Lenox Avenue
  Stamford, CT  United States  06906
• Start Date: 20150929
• Expected Completion Date: 20210930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Behavioral Safety Research
• Subprogram: Alcohol Impaired Driving
• Subprogram: Drug Impaired Driving

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash risk forecasting; Crash severity; Drugged drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Traffic crashes
• Identifier Terms: Breathalyzer
• Geographic Terms: Virginia Beach (Virginia)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01640759
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Contract Numbers: DTNH2211D00225-0006
• Files: RiP, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 6 2017 1:58PM