Abstract
Impairment is the result of unpredictable genetic variation, coexisting disease, or drug interaction, and is modified by hepatic metabolism. The introduction of alcohol tsars and alcohol health workers in trauma centres would capitalise on the ‘teachable moment’ (when the conceptual link between drinking and its consequences can be demonstrated at a time when the consequences are obvious) to prevent recurring injuries and to lower alcohol intake. Accident fatalities have reached a plateau and the only way of reducing them further is to lower the European legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to a harmonised 50 mg/100 ml.
KEY WORDS: accidents, alcohol, driving, fatalities, impairment, intervention, legal limit, metabolism, teachable moment
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