LOWERING THE LEGAL BLOOD-ALCOHOL LEVEL FOR MOTORCYCLISTS

The blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of all operators involved in mo torcycle accidents (MCA) and drivers of motor vehicle accidents (MVA) admitted to a New Jersey Level I Trauma Center during 1992 (the first year such data were computerized) were evaluated. Comparable to other institutional statistics (one-third of vehicular accidents are related to alcohol consumption) our data showed 13 (33%) of 40 MCA operators and 117 (35%) of 340 MVA drivers had measurable BAC. These values, as well as their respective Injury Severity Scores (ISS), were recorded a nd compared for significance of apparent differences using the 't' tes t for unpaired observations. Mean BAC was 124 +/- 24 (SE) mg dl(-1) fo r MCA and 180 +/- 9 mg dl(-1) for MVA (p<0.05). The respective mean IS S for MCA was 13.1 +/- 5.4 and MVA was 7.9 +/- 0.9 (p=0.12). These dat a indicate that drivers involved in MVA and MCA are frequently under t he influence of alcohol. The mean BAC for motorcyclists is significant ly less than that for drivers of four-wheeled passenger vehicles and i s likely to reflect the need for greater coordination and balance when operating a two-wheeled vehicle. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.