Table 3.
Percentage of fatally injured drivers involved in four crash types by drug, alcohol, and demographic characteristics (1998—2009)
| Variable | All | Speeding |
Failure to obey/yield |
Seat belt use |
Inattention (2004–2009 only) |
||||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| N | 44,239 | 2,568 | 15,261 | 2,568 | 4,279 | 20,790 | 20,152 | 1,816 | 3,303 |
| Drugs | |||||||||
| Drug negatives | 75.1% | 78.8% | 74.5% | 78.8%N.S. | 79.9%N.S. | 71.8% | 78.6% | 75.8%N.S. | 75.4%N.S. |
| Drug positives | 24.9% | 21.2% | 25.5% | 21.2%N.S. | 20.1%N.S. | 28.2% | 21.4% | 24.2%N.S. | 24.6%N.S.. |
| Cannabinoids | 22.7% | 16.9% | 26.8% | 16.9% | 19.1% | 23.6% | 22.5% | 18.0% | 23.1% |
| Depressant | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5.4% | 6.4% | 7.8% | 6.5% | 7.2% | 6.4% | 5.8% |
| Narcotic | 9.3% | 9.7% | 6.4% | 9.7% | 10.8% | 8.7% | 10.1% | 10.5% | 10.0% |
| Stimulant | 22.5% | 11.9% | 25.5% | 11.9% | 19.8% | 22.2% | 22.2% | 10.3% | 16.4% |
| Other drugs | 23.8% | 43.0% | 22.0% | 43.0% | 30.1% | 23.1% | 24.6% | 42.2% | 28.5% |
| Multidrug | 14.9% | 11.9% | 14.0% | 11.9% | 12.4% | 15.9% | 13.4% | 12.6% | 16.2% |
| Alcohol | |||||||||
| BAC = .00 | 58.0% | 77.0% | 47.0% | 77.0%N.S. | 77.0%.N.S. | 46.0% | 70.0% | 76.0% | 61.0% |
| .00 < BAC < .05 | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0%N.S. | 3.0%N.S. | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% |
| .05 ≤ BAC < .08 | 2.0% | 2.0% | 3.0% | 2.0%N.S. | 2.0%N.S. | 3.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% |
| BAC ≥ .08 | 37.0% | 17.0% | 47.0% | 17.0%N.S. | 18.0%N.S. | 48.0% | 25.0% | 19.0% | 34.0% |
| Age, years | |||||||||
| 16-20 | 14.1% | 7.9% | 19.4% | 7.9% | 11.9% | 51.5% | 74.9% | 8.6% | 13.9% |
| 21-34 | 32.8% | 26.1% | 41.6% | 26.1% | 21.3% | 48.5% | 25.1% | 25.8% | 31.5% |
| 35-64 | 41.4% | 51.6% | 35.2% | 51.6% | 33.1% | 14.3% | 13.9% | 52.0% | 42.7% |
| 65-74 | 5.6% | 7.6% | 2.1% | 7.6% | 11.1% | 35.2% | 30.4% | 7.2% | 5.4% |
| ≥75 | 6.1% | 6.9% | 1.7% | 6.9% | 22.6% | 41.7% | 41.3% | 6.4% | 6.4% |
| Gender | |||||||||
| Male | 77.3% | 75.7% | 83.8% | 75.8% | 66.7% | 80.2% | 74.2% | 77.3%N.S.5 | 74.2%N.S.5 |
| Female | 22.7% | 24.2% | 16.2% | 24.2% | 33.3% | 19.8% | 25.8% | 22.6%N.S.5 | 25.8%N.S.5 |
Notes: Comparison drivers for speeding, failure to obey/yield, and inattention-related crashes were defined by drivers with no identified driver's crash contributing factor (DR_CF = 0). A different variable clearly identifying seat belt use was applied to drivers according to those who wore a seat belt and those who did not. Percentages for “drug positives” include 270 drivers who tested positive for an unidentified drug. However, percentages for drug class are based only on the 10,727 drivers with known lab results. Fatally injured drivers tested for drugs involved in single-vehicle crashes only. Percentages denote column percentages (e.g., 75.1% of the drivers were drug negative [13,394]). With the exception of those denoted as “N.S.”(not significant) and “N.S.5,”all comparisons were statistically significant (p < .01). Comparison denoted as “N.S.5” denotes ap value < .05. BAC = blood alcohol concentration.