title: Distraction and driving: results from a case-control responsibility study of traffic crash injured drivers interviewed at the emergency room.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Use of cellular phones has been shown to be associated with crashes but many external distractions remain to be studied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the risk associated with diversion of attention due to unexpected events or secondary tasks at the wheel.
  
  
  METHODS
  Responsibility case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult emergency department of the Bordeaux University Hospital (France) from April 2010 to August 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  955 injured drivers presenting as a result of motor vehicle crash.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main outcome variable was responsibility for the crash. Exposures were external distraction, alcohol use, psychotropic medicine use, and sleep deprivation. Potential confounders were sociodemographic and crash characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Beyond classical risk factor found to be associated with responsibility, results showed that distracting events inside the vehicle (picking up an object), distraction due to driver activity (smoking) and distracting events occurring outside were associated with an increased probability of being at fault. These distraction-related factors accounted for 8% of injurious road crashes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Retrospective responsibility self-assessment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diverted attention may carry more risk than expected. Our results are supporting recent research efforts to detect periods of driving vulnerability related to inattention.
authors: Univ. Bordeaux, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897 - Épidémiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, Équipe Prévention et prise en charge des traumatismes, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897 - Épidémiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Bakiri
authors: Cédric
authors: C
authors: Galéra
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Lagarde
authors: Magali
authors: M
authors: Laborey
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: Contrand
authors: Régis
authors: R
authors: Ribéreau-Gayon
authors: Louis-Rachid
authors: LR
authors: Salmi
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Gabaude
authors: Alexandra
authors: A
authors: Fort
authors: Bertrand
authors: B
authors: Maury
authors: Céline
authors: C
authors: Lemercier
authors: Maurice
authors: M
authors: Cours
authors: Manuel-Pierre
authors: MP
authors: Bouvard
authors: Ludivine
authors: L
authors: Orriols
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Distraction; Driving