Alcohol and driver fatalities in Israel: an examination of the current problem.

BACKGROUND The role of alcohol in driver fatalities in Israel is unknown, and monitoring blood alcohol concentration among drivers is not routine. Moreover, over the past decade, self-reported access to and consumption of alcohol in Israel has been on the rise. OBJECTIVES To use available data to characterize alcohol-related driver fatalities. METHODS The prevalence of alcohol-related driver fatalities were estimated for 443 drivers, aged 17+ years, using data from Israel's National Center for Forensic Medicine for 2000-2004. RESULTS Between 8% and 17% of driver fatalities had a BAC > or = 0.05 g/dl. Most drivers with alcohol exceeding this level were males aged 21-30 years who died on weekends. Recreational and/or medicinal drugs were found in 6%-11% of driver fatalities. Mean BAC among driver fatalities with BAC > or = 0.05 g/dl was threefold higher than the legal driving limit and appears to be increasing with time. CONCLUSIONS In light of the evidence suggesting an increasing mean BAC over time as well as reported increasing trends in access to alcohol and consumption, this study should serve as a basis for future research to comprehensively characterize the extent of this problem.