|
| |
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/ethnicity/ethnicity.html
The fact that the percentage of
passengers and pedestrians/cyclists involved in fatal crashes who are alcohol-related is
almost as high as, and in some cases higher than, the percentage of drivers provides an
opportunity to analyze the actual cause and effect of drinking alcohol and driving.
Obviously a passenger who drinks alcohol isn't going to be a cause of the accident,
but he does provide some indication of the prevalence of alcohol-related nondrivers as
well as alcohol-related drivers. Analyzing this data helps to determine whether or
not a pedestrian or cyclist who drinks was a contributing factor to the accident.
Ordinarly you would expect that a group
of people who are driving together in a car would have the same average BAC level, which
means that the percentage of alcohol-related drivers should be equivalent to that for
passengers. The current campaign to establish a "designated driver" who
will agree to drive but not drink should result in more passengers than drivers who are
alcohol-related, but this is true only in the case of black and Puerto Rican women.
Perhaps they are the ones who take the designated driver campaign the most
seriously.
The only alcohol-related pedestrians
and cyclists who have a higher percentage of involvement in fatal crashes than drivers of
their ethnic/sex group are black and Indian men and women. The alcohol-related
pedestrians and cyclists of all other ethnic groups have lower percentages of fatal crash
involvement than the drivers of those ethnic groups, with the percentage for Asian men and
women, and Mexican and Central-South American women being almost half of that for the
drivers in their ethnic/sexual group.
There are nine possible scenarios
suggested by this data:
Drinking causes erratic behavior in
drivers.
Drinking causes erratic behavior in
pedestrians/cyclists.
One group walks or cycles often than
another group.
One group drinks more often while
walking or cycling than another group.
One group doesn't walk or cycle as
often as another group.
One group doesn't drink as often
while walking or cycling as another group.
The group supports the designated
driver program
The group consumes considerably more
alcohol than another group.
Women tend to be passengers rather
than drivers when they've been drinking.
It's possible that black and Indian men
and women tend to walk or cycle more often when they've been drinking (D.) than Asian men
& women and Mexican & Central-South American women (F.). The ratio of
alcohol involvement for black men and women pedestrians/cyclists to black men and women
passengers of 1.13 and 1.10 respectively suggests that B. is correct. The ratio of
black men drivers to black men passengers of 1.1 supports A., but the ratio for
black women of .88 supports G. It's also possible that the former group consumes
considerably more alcohol in general than the latter group, which supports H.
The ratio of alcohol-involvement for
Caucasian men and women for drivers to passengers is 1.09 and 1.13 respectively and for
drivers to pedestrians/cyclists is 1.25 and 1.22 respectively.
Table 5.
Alcohol- and non-alcohol-related fatalities by gender and role in crash weighted for age
differences between ethnic groups
| |
Crash
involved
alcohol |
person
alcohol |
GENDER by PARTICIPANT ROLE |
TOTAL |
| Drivers |
Passengers |
Peds/Cyclists |
| Male |
female |
male |
female |
male |
female |
Caucasian
Americans |
no |
(no) |
33,272 |
16,176 |
8,969 |
12,742 |
6,886 |
4,055 |
82,100 |
| Yes |
no |
3,103 |
1,724 |
1,004 |
1,615 |
1,439 |
802 |
9,687 |
| yes |
31,573 |
6,037 |
7,467 |
4,147 |
4,939 |
1,265 |
55,428 |
| crash alcohol |
51.0% |
32.4% |
48.6% |
31.1% |
48.1% |
33.8% |
44.2% |
| Person alcohol |
46.5% |
25.2% |
42.8% |
22.4% |
37.2% |
20.7% |
37.7% |
African
Americans |
no |
(no) |
4,298 |
2,038 |
1,674 |
2,163 |
1,641 |
988 |
12,802 |
| Yes |
no |
418 |
246 |
178 |
277 |
475 |
251 |
1,845 |
| yes |
3,865 |
585 |
1,288 |
738 |
1,826 |
424 |
8,726 |
| crash alcohol |
49.9% |
29.0% |
46.7% |
31.9% |
58.4% |
40.6% |
45.2% |
| Person alcohol |
45.0% |
20.4% |
41.0% |
23.2% |
46.3% |
25.5% |
37.3% |
Native
Americans |
no |
(no) |
263 |
145 |
175 |
203 |
83 |
74 |
943 |
| Yes |
no |
28 |
21 |
20 |
36 |
32 |
12 |
149 |
| yes |
652 |
169 |
328 |
208 |
400 |
104 |
1,861 |
| crash alcohol |
72.1% |
56.7% |
66.5% |
54.6% |
83.9% |
61.1% |
68.1% |
| Person alcohol |
69.1% |
50.4% |
62.7% |
46.5% |
77.7% |
54.7% |
63.0% |
Asian-Pacific
Islander
Americans |
No |
(no) |
910 |
293 |
492 |
492 |
404 |
273 |
2,864 |
| Yes |
no |
88 |
26 |
57 |
63 |
73 |
33 |
340 |
| yes |
418 |
50 |
149 |
64 |
81 |
22 |
784 |
| crash alcohol |
35.7% |
20.6% |
29.5% |
20.5% |
27.6% |
16.8% |
28.2% |
| Person alcohol |
29.5% |
13.6% |
21.3% |
10.3% |
14.5% |
6.7% |
19.7% |
Mexican
Americans |
No |
(no) |
1,439 |
703 |
1,015 |
1,278 |
910 |
649 |
5,994 |
| Yes |
no |
258 |
127 |
166 |
296 |
336 |
189 |
1,372 |
| yes |
2,461 |
364 |
1,076 |
563 |
1,192 |
182 |
5,838 |
| crash alcohol |
65.4% |
41.1% |
55.0% |
40.2% |
62.7% |
36.4% |
54.6% |
| Person alcohol |
59.2% |
30.5% |
47.7% |
26.3% |
48.9% |
17.8% |
44.2% |
Puerto Rican
Americans |
No |
(no) |
210 |
67 |
72 |
101 |
123 |
87 |
660 |
Yes |
no |
15 |
15 |
8 |
14 |
41 |
17 |
110 |
| yes |
157 |
15 |
54 |
51 |
100 |
16 |
393 |
| crash alcohol |
45.0% |
30.9% |
46.3% |
39.2% |
53.4% |
27.5% |
43.3% |
| Person alcohol |
41.1% |
15.5% |
40.3% |
30.7% |
37.9% |
13.3% |
33.8% |
Cuban
Americans |
No |
(no) |
150 |
51 |
60 |
76 |
75 |
35 |
447 |
| Yes |
no |
18 |
12 |
9 |
8 |
16 |
3 |
66 |
| yes |
83 |
17 |
23 |
22 |
38 |
7 |
190 |
| crash alcohol |
40.2% |
36.3% |
34.8% |
28.3% |
41.9% |
22.2% |
36.4% |
| Person alcohol |
33.1% |
21.3% |
25.0% |
20.8% |
29.5% |
15.6% |
27.0% |
Central-South
Americans |
no |
(no) |
254 |
104 |
158 |
223 |
200 |
138 |
1,077 |
| Yes |
no |
25 |
16 |
26 |
38 |
64 |
32 |
201 |
| yes |
246 |
25 |
125 |
49 |
203 |
15 |
663 |
| crash alcohol |
51.6% |
28.3% |
48.9% |
28.1% |
57.2% |
25.4% |
44.5% |
| Person alcohol |
46.9% |
17.2% |
40.5% |
15.8% |
43.5% |
8.1% |
34.2% |
Unknown
Hispanic
Americans |
no |
(no) |
555 |
288 |
202 |
340 |
247 |
134 |
1,766 |
| Yes |
no |
50 |
31 |
20 |
42 |
52 |
24 |
219 |
| yes |
734 |
114 |
216 |
132 |
248 |
37 |
1,481 |
| crash alcohol |
58.6% |
33.5% |
53.9% |
33.9% |
54.8% |
31.3% |
49.0% |
| Person alcohol |
54.8% |
26.3% |
49.3% |
25.7% |
45.3% |
19.0% |
42.7% |
Table 6. Alcohol- and non-alcohol-related fatally injured drivers by age group.
Weighted for gender differences between age groups.
| |
Crash
involved
alcohol |
person
alcohol |
AGE (DRIVERS ONLY) |
TOTAL |
| 6-15 |
16-20 |
21-29 |
30-39 |
40-49 |
50-59 |
60-69 |
70+ |
Caucasian
Americans |
no |
(no) |
600 |
7,901 |
8,190 |
7,018 |
5,948 |
4,763 |
5,090 |
9,931 |
49,443 |
| Yes |
no |
21 |
642 |
928 |
902 |
735 |
581 |
481 |
535 |
4,825 |
| yes |
90 |
4,773 |
12,569 |
10,498 |
5,126 |
2,210 |
1,369 |
959 |
37,595 |
| crash alcohol |
15.6% |
40.7% |
62.2% |
61.9% |
49.6% |
36.9% |
26.7% |
13.1% |
46.2% |
| Person alcohol |
12.7% |
35.8% |
58.0% |
57.0% |
43.4% |
29.3% |
19.7% |
8.4% |
40.9% |
African
Americans |
no |
(no) |
59 |
996 |
1,296 |
935 |
686 |
536 |
618 |
1,208 |
6,334 |
| Yes |
no |
6 |
87 |
167 |
122 |
85 |
69 |
51 |
77 |
664 |
| yes |
4 |
497 |
1,420 |
1,120 |
622 |
325 |
233 |
224 |
4,445 |
| crash alcohol |
14.5% |
37.0% |
55.0% |
57.1% |
50.8% |
42.4% |
31.5% |
19.9% |
44.6% |
| Person alcohol |
5.8% |
31.5% |
49.3% |
51.4% |
44.7% |
34.9% |
25.8% |
14.8% |
38.8% |
Native
Americans |
no |
(no) |
7 |
58 |
58 |
48 |
46 |
33 |
56 |
103 |
409 |
| Yes |
no |
2 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
48 |
| yes |
9 |
127 |
248 |
211 |
115 |
45 |
36 |
31 |
822 |
| crash alcohol |
61.1% |
69.9% |
81.6% |
82.1% |
72.6% |
60.2% |
42.3% |
24.3% |
68.0% |
| Person alcohol |
50.0% |
65.8% |
78.5% |
78.7% |
68.5% |
54.2% |
37.1% |
22.8% |
64.3% |
Asian-Pacific
Islander
Americans |
no |
(no) |
9 |
206 |
293 |
270 |
156 |
109 |
76 |
85 |
1,204 |
| Yes |
no |
0 |
6 |
37 |
34 |
22 |
10 |
4 |
2 |
115 |
| yes |
1 |
57 |
156 |
127 |
82 |
31 |
9 |
5 |
468 |
| crash alcohol |
10.0% |
23.4% |
39.7% |
37.4% |
40.0% |
27.3% |
14.6% |
7.6% |
32.6% |
| Person alcohol |
10.0% |
21.2% |
32.1% |
29.5% |
31.5% |
20.7% |
10.1% |
5.4% |
26.2% |
Mexican
Americans |
no |
(no) |
35 |
364 |
426 |
355 |
278 |
189 |
199 |
295 |
2,141 |
| Yes |
no |
3 |
67 |
90 |
76 |
60 |
36 |
32 |
21 |
385 |
| yes |
12 |
432 |
954 |
745 |
377 |
144 |
89 |
68 |
2,821 |
| crash alcohol |
30.0% |
57.8% |
71.0% |
69.8% |
61.1% |
48.8% |
37.8% |
23.2% |
60.0% |
| Person alcohol |
24.0% |
50.1% |
64.9% |
63.4% |
52.7% |
39.0% |
27.8% |
17.7% |
52.8% |
Puerto Rican
Americans |
no |
(no) |
2 |
47 |
76 |
54 |
30 |
22 |
25 |
21 |
277 |
| Yes |
no |
0 |
3 |
12 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
29 |
| yes |
0 |
19 |
60 |
55 |
24 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
170 |
| crash alcohol |
0.0% |
31.9% |
48.6% |
54.2% |
46.4% |
21.4% |
19.4% |
12.5% |
41.8% |
| Person alcohol |
0.0% |
27.5% |
40.5% |
46.6% |
42.9% |
17.9% |
12.9% |
12.5% |
35.7% |
Cuban
Americans |
no |
(no) |
4 |
41 |
50 |
29 |
24 |
16 |
18 |
20 |
202 |
| Yes |
no |
0 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
29 |
| yes |
0 |
10 |
40 |
27 |
16 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
101 |
| crash alcohol |
0.0% |
26.8% |
49.0% |
54.7% |
42.9% |
27.3% |
21.7% |
13.0% |
39.2% |
| Person alcohol |
0.0% |
17.9% |
40.8% |
42.2% |
38.1% |
13.6% |
13.0% |
8.7% |
30.4% |
Central-South
Americans |
no |
(no) |
4 |
60 |
81 |
66 |
54 |
27 |
36 |
26 |
354 |
| Yes |
no |
0 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
41 |
| yes |
2 |
42 |
107 |
76 |
31 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
272 |
| crash alcohol |
33.3% |
47.4% |
58.9% |
56.3% |
41.9% |
28.9% |
5.3% |
13.3% |
46.9% |
| Person alcohol |
33.3% |
36.8% |
54.3% |
50.3% |
33.3% |
21.1% |
5.3% |
13.3% |
40.8% |
Unknown
Hispanic
Americans |
no |
(no) |
12 |
140 |
135 |
113 |
105 |
81 |
83 |
172 |
841 |
| Yes |
no |
1 |
18 |
16 |
13 |
11 |
9 |
6 |
7 |
81 |
| yes |
3 |
129 |
286 |
221 |
112 |
44 |
34 |
17 |
846 |
| crash alcohol |
25.0% |
51.2% |
69.1% |
67.4% |
53.9% |
39.6% |
32.5% |
12.2% |
52.4% |
| Person alcohol |
18.8% |
44.9% |
65.4% |
63.7% |
49.1% |
32.8% |
27.6% |
8.7% |
47.9% |
Table 7. Safety belt usage by alcohol- and non-alcohol-related fatally injured
vehicle occupants (FARS 1990 to 1995). Data weighted for age and gender.
| |
Crash
involved
alcohol |
person
alcohol |
SAFETY BELT USED |
TOTAL |
| No |
yes |
Caucasian
Americans |
no |
(no) |
38,692 |
26,134 |
64,826 |
| Yes |
no |
3,638 |
3,040 |
6,678 |
| yes |
36,907 |
8,366 |
45,273 |
| crash alcohol |
51.2% |
30.4% |
44.5% |
| Person alcohol |
46.6% |
22.3% |
38.8% |
African
Americans |
no |
(no) |
6,179 |
2,683 |
8,862 |
| Yes |
no |
564 |
337 |
901 |
| yes |
4,819 |
900 |
5,719 |
| crash alcohol |
46.6% |
31.6% |
42.8% |
| Person alcohol |
41.7% |
23.0% |
36.9% |
Native
Americans |
no |
(no) |
528 |
176 |
704 |
| Yes |
no |
77 |
20 |
97 |
| yes |
1,127 |
129 |
1,256 |
| crash alcohol |
69.5% |
45.8% |
65.8% |
| Person alcohol |
65.1% |
39.7% |
61.1% |
Asian-Pacific
Islander
Americans |
no |
(no) |
1,051 |
890 |
1,941 |
| Yes |
no |
95 |
107 |
202 |
| yes |
415 |
181 |
596 |
| crash alcohol |
32.7% |
24.4% |
29.1% |
| Person alcohol |
26.6% |
15.4% |
21.8% |
Mexican
Americans |
no |
(no) |
2,816 |
1,195 |
4,011 |
| Yes |
no |
443 |
284 |
727 |
| yes |
3,404 |
661 |
4,065 |
| crash alcohol |
57.7% |
44.2% |
54.4% |
| Person alcohol |
51.1% |
30.9% |
46.2% |
Puerto Rican
Americans |
no |
(no) |
268 |
134 |
402 |
| Yes |
no |
28 |
16 |
44 |
| yes |
204 |
38 |
242 |
| crash alcohol |
46.4% |
28.7% |
41.6% |
| Person alcohol |
40.8% |
20.2% |
35.2% |
Cuban
Americans |
no |
(no) |
177 |
149 |
326 |
| Yes |
no |
24 |
20 |
44 |
| yes |
92 |
46 |
138 |
| crash alcohol |
39.6% |
30.7% |
35.8% |
| Person alcohol |
31.4% |
21.4% |
27.2% |
Central-South
Americans |
no |
(no) |
429 |
220 |
649 |
| Yes |
no |
50 |
32 |
82 |
| yes |
307 |
80 |
387 |
| crash alcohol |
45.4% |
33.7% |
41.9% |
| Person alcohol |
39.1% |
24.1% |
34.6% |
Unknown
Hispanic
Americans |
no |
(no) |
862 |
428 |
1,290 |
| Yes |
no |
81 |
54 |
135 |
| yes |
958 |
160 |
1,118 |
| crash alcohol |
54.7% |
33.3% |
49.3% |
| Person alcohol |
50.4% |
24.9% |
44.0% |
| |
|
