Culpability and accountability of hospitalized injured alcohol-impaired drivers. A prospective study
K. I. Maull, L. S. Kinning and J. K. Hickman
During the three-year period ending October 1982, driver records, crash
reports, and blood alcohol concentrations were correlated for 56
alcohol-impaired drivers injured seriously enough to warrant hospital
admission. Blood alcohol concentration levels exceeded 0.15 vol% in all
patients. Despite a high level of suspicion of alcohol involvement and
assessment of culpability by the law enforcement officer at the scene,
there were no convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI)
among this problem-drinker population. Injury seems to offer additional
protection from enforcement of DUI statutes and, if the patient survives
his injuries, allows the offender to resume driving without interdiction.