title: Alcohol use among fatally injured drivers in Spain.
abstract: Blood from 285 fatally injured drivers in Northern Spain was collected and tested for the presence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol was detected in 50.5% of all fatalities. Alcohol alone was detected in 44.2% of all samples and in the remaining 6.3% another substance was found together with alcohol. Blood alcohol concentration was classified in different levels. It has been observed that in 35.4% of the cases the blood alcohol level was > or = 0.8 g/l, the legal limit in Spain for car drivers. Alcohol together with other substances was encountered in 18 cases, with medication in 22.2% (4 out of 18), alcohol with illegal drugs in 66.6% of the cases (12 out of 18), and alcohol with medicines and illegal drugs in 11.1% (2 out of 18). Cocaine was the most commonly detected drug. The study shows how widespread the incidence of a high level of alcohol concentration among drivers involved in fatal accidents in Spain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: del Río
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Alvarez
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol