Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the predictors of recidivism in first-time driving under the influence (DUI) offenders, analyzing variables derived from medico-legal and toxicological examinations. The research was structured as a comparative study for the period 2012–2019. DUI offenders with a blood alcohol concentration >0.5 were included in the study. The case group consisted of recidivist offenders, while the comparison group consisted of first-time offenders. Personal data, socioeconomics, and parameters linked to the DUI were compared between the two groups. Significance was determined by chi-square and Mann–Whitney tests. To prevent confounding effects, multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed. Our sample encompassed 1678 subjects (196 in the case group, 1482 in the comparison group). Gender, driving license category, education, and tobacco use resulted in significant differences between the groups. In a model including age at DUI, education, and smoking habit as independent variables, higher educational levels (high school, bachelor’s) and older age protected against recidivism, whereas smoking >20 cigarettes/day was an independent risk factor for recidivism. Recidivist offenders have specific characteristics indicating different therapeutic programs and carefulness in driving license regranting. A higher tobacco consumption in recidivists suggests that the use of this substance could influence the risk of DUI for reasons that will need to be explored.

Highlights

  • Accepted: 8 October 2021Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol causes thousands of deaths in traffic accidents each year worldwide [1,2,3,4]

  • The parameters were subdivided in classifications of personal data, including age at DUI, gender, driving license category, and tobacco use; socioeconomic conditions, encompassing education, marital status, employment situation, and tobacco use; and parameters linked to DUI, including blood alcohol concentration (BAC), road accident involvement, and concurrent substance use other than alcohol at the time of the DUI

  • Age at DUI resulted in a significant difference between cases and the comparison group, with recidivist offenders younger than one-time

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Summary

Introduction

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol causes thousands of deaths in traffic accidents each year worldwide [1,2,3,4]. The United States reported 10,511 alcohol-related driving fatalities in 2018, accounting for 29% of all road fatalities that year [5]. In the European Union, alcohol-related road fatalities were estimated to account for 25% of all road deaths (25,150) in 2018 [6]. In Italy, 3692 individuals were injured in alcohol-related crashes in 2019, accounting for 9.2% of road accidents with injuries [7]. The misuse of psychoactive substances other than alcohol [9] among DUI subjects is another factor that increases the complexity and variability of this population

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