Centre for Automotive Safety Research, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2020;21(1):1-6. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2020.1712715. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
For a jurisdiction to apply appropriate countermeasures for impaired driving, it is necessary to track drug and alcohol involvement in road crashes. In South Australia, it is mandated that all injured road users aged over 10 who attend a hospital for treatment must have a blood sample taken, which is tested for alcohol and drugs. The drug testing covers the three drugs included in South Australia's roadside drug testing program: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC or cannabis), methamphetamine ('ice') and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or 'ecstasy'). The present study involved analysis of the results of drug tests from 2014 to 2017 for road users over the age of 16 at the major trauma hospital in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Comparisons were made to the results of blood tests from an earlier study using data from 2008 to 2010. It was found in the most recent dataset that just over 11 per cent of drivers and just under 5 per cent of motorcyclists had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above the legal limit of 0.05 g/100 ml. In regard to the three proscribed drugs, the rates for both drivers and motorcyclists were over 15 per cent. Among drivers, methamphetamine was most common (9.7%), followed by THC (6.3%). Among motorcyclists, THC was most common (9.4%), followed by methamphetamine (6.2%). Inspection of data from 2008 to 2010 reveals that rates of having an illegal BAC when involved in a crash have declined over the past decade (from 20.2% down to 9.3%), while rates of drug use among crash involved drivers and riders have increased (from 10.5% to 15.2%). Although the apparent decline in alcohol involvement in road crashes in recent years in South Australia is to be welcomed, the increasing proportion of road crashes involving drug impaired drivers, particularly those affected by methamphetamine, is cause for concern. A National Drug Driving Working Group has been set up by Austroads to examine improvements in drug driving enforcement practices. The recommendations arising from their work need to be considered for implementation to prevent rising drug driving crashes from replacing the reduction in road crashes attributable to drink driving.
为了对驾驶受损实施适当的对策，有必要对药物和酒精在道路事故中的参与情况进行跟踪。在南澳大利亚州，规定所有年龄在 10 岁以上、因事故受伤到医院接受治疗的道路使用者都必须抽取血样，检测血液中的酒精和毒品。药物测试涵盖了南澳大利亚州路边药物测试计划中包含的三种药物：δ-9-四氢大麻酚（THC 或大麻）、甲基苯丙胺（冰毒）和 3,4-亚甲二氧基甲基苯丙胺（MDMA 或摇头丸）。本研究分析了 2014 年至 2017 年期间在南澳大利亚州首府阿德莱德的主要创伤医院接受治疗的 16 岁以上道路使用者的药物测试结果，并与 2008 年至 2010 年期间使用早期研究数据进行了比较。最近的数据集中发现，略高于 11%的驾驶员和略低于 5%的摩托车手血液中的酒精浓度（BAC）超过法定的 0.05 g/100ml 上限。在这三种违禁药物方面，驾驶员和摩托车手的比例均超过 15%。在驾驶员中，甲基苯丙胺最为常见（9.7%），其次是 THC（6.3%）。在摩托车手群体中，THC 最为常见（9.4%），其次是甲基苯丙胺（6.2%）。检查 2008 年至 2010 年的数据显示，过去十年中，涉及事故的驾驶员血液中非法 BAC 的比例有所下降（从 20.2%下降到 9.3%），而涉及事故的驾驶员和骑手的药物使用比例有所增加（从 10.5%上升到 15.2%）。尽管南澳大利亚州近年来道路事故中涉及酒精的比例有所下降，这是值得欢迎的，但涉及药物影响的驾驶员，特别是受甲基苯丙胺影响的驾驶员的道路事故比例不断上升，令人担忧。 Austroads 成立了一个国家药物驾驶工作组，以研究改进药物驾驶执法工作。需要考虑实施他们的工作建议，以防止因药物驾驶导致的道路事故增加取代因饮酒驾驶导致的道路事故减少。
