A study into blood alcohol concentration in fatal accidents among vulnerable road users in a tertiary care hospital Sri Lanka

Reckless driving behaviour associated with alcohol has been well known. In Sri Lanka, research on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in road fatalities is scares. Thus, we studied the BAC in vulnerable road users (VRUs) encountered in medico-legal autopsies. A retrospective descriptive study based on case records of VRU fatalities from 2005 to 2012 referred for a tertiary care unit for post-mortem examination was conducted. A pro-forma was developed to extract data from the post-mortem blood alcohol reports. Data were analysed using percentages and p-values. There were 119 cases from the 328 autopsies to investigate blood alcohol tests. A total of 51% (n = 61) out of 119 had BAC above 80mg/100ml and mean level was 103mg/100ml. 2/3 of pedestrians had a BAC above 80mg/100ml with a mean level of 139mg/dl. The highest mean blood alcohol (158mg/dl) was reported from three-wheeler users. Majority of cases with more than 80mg/100ml BAC was reported in the age group of 40-60years, while 40% of the elderly too had a BAC above 80mg/100ml. The comparison between pedestrians having above 80mg/100ml of BAC with that of other VRUs (active road users) showed a significant statistical difference (p = 0.017). The study results suggest that alcohol influence among pedestrians represent a significant risk factor for fatal road traffic accidents.