title: Demands on scientific studies in different fields of forensic medicine and forensic sciences. Traffic medicine--impaired driver: alcohol, drugs, diseases.
abstract: Since human performance is a key factor in crash causation detailed knowledge of the involvement of alcohol, drugs and diseases is of fundamental interest for road safety. To better understand the effect of these influencing factors it is important to use a combination of witness observations and a range of experimental and epidemiological studies. Epidemiological approaches to research such as road-side-surveys, case-control-studies, culpability analysis, pharmaco-epidemiological studies are usually seen as being able to provide the best answers. This article discusses the relative merits of experimental and epidemiological approaches.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Cologne, Melatengürtel 60-62, 50823 Köln, Germany. guenter.berghaus@uk-koeln.de
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berghaus
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ramaekers
authors.forename: Olaf H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Drummer
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D004194:Disease; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D044707:Forensic Sciences / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders