[Risk for injuries in traffic accidents among drivers under the effect of alcohol in Navarra]

We conducted a retrospective analysis of the levels of alcohol in the blood of a group of 54 drivers who required hospital emergency care after having suffered a traffic accident on roads in the Health Area III of Navarra (Spain) from June to September 1989, and compared them to another group of 219 drivers, not victims of traffic accidents, submitted to the breathalyser (test of alcoholaemia) on the roads of the same Health Area over the same period of time. In the group of 54 accident victims, the median alcoholaemia was 100 mg/dl, with a quartile deviation of 88 mg/dl, and the percentage of positives (alcoholaemia equal to or greater than 80 mg/dl) was 50.9%. In the group of 219 drivers not victims of traffic accidents, the median alcoholaemia was 16 mg/dl, the quartile deviation 18.5 mg/dl and the percentage of positive alcoholaemia was 1.8%. Drivers with a level of blood alcohol equal to or greater than 80 mg/dl have an estimated risk (Odds Ratio) of being injured in a traffic accident 55.82 times higher than drivers with a lower level.