Effects of Alcohol on Fitness to Drive

Jones, Alan Wayne

doi:10.1002/9781118570654.ch58

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…16 At this level, drivers are more likely to speed, misjudge distance and display impaired cognitive functioning. [17][18][19] Current national legislation endorses a BAC limit of ≤0.08 g/dL for both general and young/first-time drivers, 20 that is higher than international recommendations of ≤0.05 g/dL for the general population and ≤0.02 g/dL for young or firsttime drivers. 21 The most recent Global Status Report on Road Safety suggested that almost 20% of road traffic deaths in Jamaica were due to DUIA.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Drunk driving: a secondary analysis of factors associated with driving under the influence of alcohol in Jamaica

et al. 2023

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ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of alcohol use patterns, sociodemographic factors and risk of alcohol dependence among vehicle drivers in Jamaica.DesignA secondary data analysis.SettingThis study was conducted using the Jamaica National Drug Prevalence Survey 2016 dataset.ParticipantsThis included 1060 vehicle drivers derived from the population sample of 4623. The participants from each household were randomly selected as the respondent for the survey.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAlcohol use and dependence were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test questionnaire. Driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA) was assessed by questions regarding its use in the past 12 months. The analysis involved the use of Pearson’s χ2test and logistic regression.Results75% of Jamaicans reported lifetime alcohol use. Approximately 65% of drivers indicated that they currently drink alcohol. 18% of drivers who currently drink alcohol admitted to DUIA. Reportedly, 54.5% of these drivers were alcohol binge drinkers, with 41.5% also driving under the influence of cannabis. The bivariate analysis demonstrated that DUIA was higher among Christian participants and those who worked in non-machine operator jobs (p=0.002 and p=0.008, respectively). Vehicle drivers altogether and drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol had significant associations with hazardous drinking (p=0.011 and p<0.001, respectively). Logistic regressions highlighted drivers 34 years and under (p=0.012), male drivers (p=0.002) and the head of the household (p=0.050) were 1.82, 3.30 and 1.86 times more likely, respectively, to report driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year.ConclusionsThe prevalence of alcohol use among Jamaica’s population and vehicle drivers is high. That one in five drivers, who currently consume alcohol, also admits to driving under the influence suggests the urgent need for mitigation strategies and legislative action as part of a preventative effort to reduce drunk driving.

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Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Drunk driving: a secondary analysis of factors associated with driving under the influence of alcohol in Jamaica

et al. 2023

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“…In addition to study methods involving driving simulation, two on-the-road studies investigated one night of sleep deprivation on driving performance and convincingly found that lateral control of the vehicle was also severely impaired following sleep deprivation [11,12]. Furthermore, compared to older drivers, adolescents and younger adults (aged [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] are particularly susceptible due to driving inexperience and overconfidence in their driving competence [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At a BAC of 0.5 g/L, Mitchell et al reported impairment of cognitive functioning in drivers including the ability to process information and make decisions under conditions of divided attention [16]. At this level drivers' judgement of speed and distance will be impaired alongside an increase in risk taking behaviour [17]. Furthermore, drivers are more likely to suffer visual impairment, drive faster than required, have slower reactions to red lights and brake lights, and have an impaired judgement of distances when approaching bends [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of sleep deprivation and alcohol on driving: a comparative study

Lowrie

Brownlow²

2020

BMC Public Health

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Background: There is concern about the detrimental effects of shift-workers' increasing working hours particularly when driving sleep deprived. The approach to measuring the magnitude of driving impairment caused by sleep deprivation was by comparing it to alcohol. The study compared driving performance after 24-h of wakefulness to performance with a BrAC of just over 22 μg/100mls of breath which is equal to 50 mg of alcohol per 100mls of blood (Scottish drink-drive limit). The effectiveness of coffee as a countermeasure for driver fatigue and the association between subjective impairment and actual performance was also investigated.Methods: A study of 30 participants (11 male and 19 female; mean age 21) was conducted. Subjects were tested under three conditions: fully rested, sleep deprived, and alcohol intoxicated -BrAC mean [SD] 25.95 μg [2.78]. Under each condition, subjects were tested before and after coffee ingestion. This involved driving simulation (Lane Change Task and Reaction Test) and subjective Likert scales (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and driver impairment scale). Outcome measures included lane tracking adaptive mean deviation, reaction time, and subjective sleepiness and impairment ratings. Results: Compared to alcohol, sleep deprived mean reaction times were slower (2.86 s vs. 2.34 s) and lateral control of the vehicle was reduced (lane tracking adaptive mean deviation: 0.5 vs. 0.3). Coffee did not produce an improvement when sleep deprived, and instead, performance deteriorated. Females were less impaired following sleep deprivation than males. Following prolonged wakefulness, the correlation between subjective impairment and actual performance was significant.Conclusions: It was concluded that sleep deprivation has a greater impact on driving performance than a BrAC of 22 μg/100mls of breath, as measured by driving simulation. Coffee is not an effective countermeasure for sleep deprived driving and drivers' ability to judge this impairment is suggested to be limited.

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“…Drunken driving represents one of the most important issues for road safety [ 1 , 2 ]. Alcohol affects the ability to safely manage the vehicle, to stay in the lane and to maintain a constant speed, also impairing the driver’s concentration and all aspects of driving safety as, for example, the tendency towards risks [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Worldwide, driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances is among the most frequent causes of motor-vehicle crashes [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies have focused on the effects of alcohol on both cognition and driving performance [ 8 , 9 ]. Regarding cognition, the alcohol assumption is associated with a decrease in psychomotor speed, and having an influence on working memory capacity, divided attention, visual acuity, and perceptual accuracy and speed [ 3 , 8 , 10 ]. Some scholars have posited that habitual alcohol consumption mainly causes a restriction of the attentional focus to most salient environmental cues only, leading to a decreased attentional processing (i.e., the attentional-allocation model) [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing Fitness-to-Drive in Drinker Drivers: The Role of Cognition and Personality

Tinella

Caffò

Lopez

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Drunken driving is among the main challenges for road safety by causing worldwide motor-vehicle crashes with severe injuries and deaths. The reassessment of fitness-to-drive in drivers stopped for drunken driving includes mainly psychological examinations. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and the consistency of selected variables of different psychological driving-related dimensions (i.e., cognitive skills and personality) in discriminating 90 male drinker drivers (DD) from matched non-drinkers controls. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Mental Rotation Test (MRT), and the Perspective-Taking Test (PT) were administered to assess overall cognitive functioning, and object- and self-based spatial transformation abilities, respectively. Participants completed a computerized test measuring resilience of attention (DT), reaction times (RT), and perceptual speed (ATAVT). The Personality Psychopathology Five scales (i.e., PSY-5: Aggressiveness-AGGR, Psychoticism-PSYC, Disconstraint-DISC, Negative-Emotionality-NEGE, and Introversion-INTR) the validity scale (L) and the dissimulation index (F-K) were scored from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2). A logistic binomial regression analysis (backward subtraction method) was used to identify discriminant predictors. A prediction analysis (ROC curve method) was performed on the final model. Results showed that the scores obtained in MRT, DT, and the personality measures of PSYC, DISC, NEGE, and INTR significantly discriminated DD from their matched controls with moderate-to-good values of accuracy (0.79), sensitivity (0.80), and specificity (0.79), as well as a good AUC value (0.89). In some cases, the personality dimensions provided—reliable—unexpected results. Low scores of PSYC, NEGE, and INTR were found to predict the membership to the DD group; results are discussed with reference to response management. Personality measures should be assessed with particular attention in a forensic context because they are more prone to be feigned than cognitive ones. Overall, the present study confirmed the relevance of integrating different driving-related psychological dimensions in the evaluation of fitness-to-drive showing the usefulness of standardized tools for the reassessment of drinker drivers.

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Effects of Alcohol on Fitness to Drive

Cited by 6 publications

References 65 publications

Drunk driving: a secondary analysis of factors associated with driving under the influence of alcohol in Jamaica

Drunk driving: a secondary analysis of factors associated with driving under the influence of alcohol in Jamaica

The impact of sleep deprivation and alcohol on driving: a comparative study

Reassessing Fitness-to-Drive in Drinker Drivers: The Role of Cognition and Personality

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