title: Patterns of drug use in fatal crashes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize drug prevalence among fatally injured drivers, identify significant associations (i.e. day of week, time of day, age, gender), and compare findings with those for alcohol.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive and logistic mixed-model regression analyses of Fatality Analysis Reporting System data.
  
  
  METHODS
  US states with drug test results for >80% of fatally injured drivers, 1998-2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drivers killed in single-vehicle crashes on public roads who died at the scene of the crash (n = 16 942).
  
  
  METHODS
  Drug test results, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), gender, age and day and time of crash.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 45.1% of fatally injured drivers tested positive for alcohol (39.9% BAC ≥ 0.08) and 25.9% for drugs. The most common drugs present were stimulants (7.2%) and cannabinols (7.1%), followed by 'other' drugs (4.1%), multiple drugs (4.1%), narcotics (2.1%) and depressants (1.5%). Drug-involved crashes occurred with relative uniformity throughout the day while alcohol-involved crashes were more common at night (P < 0.01). The odds of testing positive for drugs varied depending upon drug class, driver characteristics, time of day and the presence of alcohol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fatal single-vehicle crashes involving drugs are less common than those involving alcohol and the characteristics of drug-involved crashes differ, depending upon drug class and whether alcohol is present. Concerns about drug-impaired driving should not detract from the current law enforcement focus on alcohol-impaired driving.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Impaired Driving Center, 11720 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705-3111, USA. romano@pire.org
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Robin A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pollini
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000401:mortality; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: AID; DUID; alcohol; drugs; fatal crashes