Περίληψη:
Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or psychoactive substances
increases the risk of severe, even fatal motor vehicle accidents. The
aim of this descriptive study was to present the impact of alcohol
and/or psychoactive substances on fatal road traffic accidents (RTAs)
during the period 2011-2017. For this purpose, the toxicological
investigation reports from the Department of Forensic Medicine and
Toxicology of the University of Athens were used. In total, 1,841
(32.2%) of the autopsies conducted by the Department of Forensic
Medicine and Toxicology of the National and Kapodistrian University of
Athens over a 7-year period (2011-2017) were victims of fatal RTAs.
Blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of
alcohol and psychoactive substances. The results were classified
according to sex, age, victim (car driver, motorcyclist, pedestrian, or
passenger) and the date the accident occurred (day, month and year). In
total, 40.7% of the RTA-related fatalities were associated with alcohol
consumption, among which 20.3% were car drivers. Of these, 87.3% were
male victims. A higher frequency of RTA-related fatalities associated
with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) >110 mg/dl was encountered in
younger compared with older age groups. Psychoactive substances were
detected in 348 (18.9%) of the victims (cannabis in 46.6% of these,
benzodiazepines in 25.9%, opiates in 16.4% and cocaine in 11.1% of
these). The percentage of the RTA-related victims that had consumed
alcohol in combination with other psychoactive substances was 4.5%. On
the whole, the findings of this study suggest that alcohol and
psychoactive substances are probably risk factors for RTA-related
fatalities.
Συγγραφείς:
Papalimperi, Athanasia H.
Athanaselis, Sotirios A.
Mina, Areti
D.
Papoutsis, Ioannis I.
Spiliopoulou, Chara A.
Papadodima,
Stavroula A.
