Under reporting alcohol’s role in traffic deaths sways mortality statistics and affects efforts to fight drunk driving
A great deal of progress has been made in the fight against drunk driving. According to the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol-related traffic deaths have been cut in half in the past 30 years. However, alcohol misuse continues to be the fourth biggest cause of death in this country, and it turns out that it may be a bigger contributor to traffic deaths than we thought.
A recent study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs showed a discrepancy between the information on death certificates and the information contained within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Whereas data from FARS showed that individuals had blood alcohol concentrations of over .08 in 21 percent of traffic fatalities, the death certificates did not reflect this reality. Only 3 percent of death certificates for traffic fatalities mentioned alcohol as a contributing cause of death. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that alcohol was 81 percent less likely to be mentioned in death certificates than in FARS.
Why Don’t FARS and Death Certificates Match?
There are several reasons for this discrepancy. First of all, not all states require blood alcohol testing for drivers who are killed in traffic accidents. Only about 70 percent of drivers end up getting tested. Secondly, in many cases it is necessary to issue the death certificate before the blood alcohol testing can be completed. Finally, some physicians and medical examiners may be overworked and content to simply list the primary cause of death and not search for possible contributing factors that may not be obvious.
Why Does It Matter?
The reason underreporting alcohol involvement on death certificates is a problem is that death certificates are the source typically used to compile the mortality statistics that lawmakers and advocates rely on to guide their work. If the death certificates are not painting an accurate picture of the reality of alcohol-related traffic deaths, it is much more difficult to assess the effects of current DUI laws and anti-alcohol programs and determine when and how these efforts may need to be adjusted. The researchers suggest starting with the medical examiners to solve this problem. The accuracy of death certificates could perhaps be improved by new policies that require blood alcohol testing in more cases and by new guidelines for medical examiners to follow when filling out death certificates.
