Comparison of the effects of two legal blood alcohol limits: the presence of alcohol in traffic accidents according to category of driver in Izmir, Turkey.

OBJECTIVES

Under existing Turkish road traffic law, there are 2 different blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits allowed for drivers in 2013: zero blood alcohol and ≤0.50 g/L. All public transport, taxi, commercial, and official vehicle drivers must maintain a zero blood alcohol concentration while driving. Private vehicle drivers must maintain a BAC of 0.50 g/L or lower. The aim of the recent study was to evaluate the effect of these 2 legal blood alcohol limits on nonfatal traffic accidents that occurred due to the driver being under the influence of alcohol.

METHODS

This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the blood alcohol concentration of 224 drivers in nonfatal road accidents between June 2010 and July 2011 using headspace gas chromatography at the Izmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency, Turkey. All cases evaluated by the toxicology department were entered into a database. We used descriptive statistics, χ(2) test, and independent sampling test to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The total number of drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents was 224; 191 were private vehicle drivers and 33 were public transport, taxi, commercial, and official vehicle drivers. In the present study, alcohol was detected in the blood of about 27.2% (n = 61) of the 224 drivers. Sixty (31.4%) private vehicle drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents tested positive for alcohol. BAC values were also above the legal limit (0.50 g/L) in 27.7% (n = 53) of private vehicle drivers. However, the BAC was above the legal limit in only 3% (n = 1) of public transport, commercial, and official vehicle drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents. These results showed that private vehicle drivers subject to a BAC limit of ≤0.50 g/L were significantly associated with an increased risk of nonfatal accident involvement than drivers subject to a zero BAC limit (odds ratio [OR] = 12.29, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64-92.22; Fisher's exact test, P <.001). Mean BAC in private vehicle drivers subject to a 0.50 g/L level (52.60 mg/dl ± 94.84) was significantly higher than that of drivers subject to a zero alcohol level (10.76 mg/dl ± 61.80; t = 2.44, P <.001).

CONCLUSION

In light of our results, lowering the BAC limit for private vehicle drivers may reduce the level of driving under the influence of alcohol. A change in the law will decrease the rates of alcohol-related road accidents in Turkey.