Maistros Alexander R, Holik William A, Schneider William H, Savolainen Peter T
a Department of Civil Engineering , The University of Akron , Akron , Ohio.
b Department of Civil , Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University , Ames , Iowa.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2016 Oct 2;17(7):668-75. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2016.1161184.
Driving under the influence of alcohol is a crime that places the lives of all motorists in danger. Though it is a largely preventable act, impaired driving has accounted for 31 to 38% of fatal crashes across the country over the last decade. When an impaired operator crashes his or her vehicle, there is often a second unit, of which the operator is not impaired, involved in the crash.
This research looks at approximately 14,000 2-unit crashes involving an impaired operator in the State of Ohio from 2008 through 2012. The research is focused on determining the effects of crash and operator characteristics in 2-unit alcohol-related crashes through the use of 2 mixed logit models.
It is found that several factors have similar effects on the injury severities of both the impaired and nonimpaired operators, including head-on crashes, the use of seat belts, and the deployment of airbags. There are, however, several factors that affect the 2 operators differently. It is found that the impaired operator's injury severity is based on the type and, more important, the size of the vehicle he or she is driving, the roadway geometry, and the speed of the vehicle driven by the nonimpaired operator. The nonimpaired operator is equally affected by the speed of the impaired vehicle as much as his or her own speed, and the nonimpaired operator's injury severity is virtually independent of the type of vehicle being driven.
Researchers may disseminate the results to community groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Safe Communities to increase awareness of the dangers of drunk driving in an effort to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes.
酒后驾车是一种将所有驾车者的生命置于危险之中的犯罪行为。尽管这在很大程度上是一种可预防的行为，但在过去十年中，酒后驾车导致的致命撞车事故占全国此类事故的31%至38%。当一名受影响的驾车者撞车时，往往会有另一辆车卷入事故，而该车的驾车者并未受到影响。
本研究考察了2008年至2012年俄亥俄州约14000起涉及受影响驾车者的两车相撞事故。该研究的重点是通过使用两个混合逻辑模型来确定两车相撞的酒精相关事故中撞车和驾车者特征的影响。
研究发现，几个因素对受影响和未受影响驾车者的受伤严重程度有相似影响，包括正面碰撞、安全带的使用和安全气囊的展开。然而，有几个因素对两名驾车者的影响不同。研究发现，受影响驾车者的受伤严重程度取决于其驾驶车辆的类型，更重要的是车辆大小、道路几何形状以及未受影响驾车者所驾车辆的速度。未受影响的驾车者受到受影响车辆速度的影响程度与自身速度相同，且未受影响驾车者的受伤严重程度实际上与所驾车辆类型无关。
研究人员可将研究结果传播给诸如反对酒后驾车母亲协会和安全社区等社区团体，以提高对酒后驾车危险性的认识，从而努力减少与酒精相关的撞车事故数量。
