The burden of road trauma due to other people's drinking

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate the burden of road traffic injury due to alcohol consumption by someone other than the injured party. We estimated the number and proportion of these traffic deaths and non-fatal traffic injuries, and the associated social costs, for a five-year period (2003–2007) in New Zealand. We found that more than 40% of alcohol-related crash injuries in New Zealand are suffered by people who have not themselves been drinking. While the rate of road traffic injuries and the involvement of alcohol peak amongst young adults, so too does the proportion of all road traffic crash injuries that are due to other people's drinking, reaching one in five in the 15–19-year age group. Most innocent victims are car passengers, and this includes almost all children who are injured by drink driving. For a large majority of the children injured, the driver affected by alcohol is the driver of their own car. Using official cost figures, alcohol-related injuries to innocent victims cost the country more than half a billion dollars per year.