MOPEDS: Motorized Objects Propelling Ethanol Drinking Subjects

Mopeds are not subject to the same laws and jurisdiction as cars or motorcycles, including the requirement of a driver's license. We undertook this study to examine the influence of alcohol (ETOH) on moped crashes. We retrospectively reviewed adult moped injuries compared with motor vehicle cra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American surgeon Vol. 77; no. 3; pp. 304 - 306
Main Authors: Christmas, A. Britton, Brintzenhoff, Rita A., Schmelzer, Thomas M., Head, Karen E., Sing, Ronald F.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Atlanta, GA Southeastern Surgical Congress 01.03.2011
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic - mortality
Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data
Adult
Alcohol use
Alcoholic Intoxication - diagnosis
Alcoholic Intoxication - epidemiology
Alcoholic Intoxication - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort Studies
Ethanol - blood
Fatalities
Female
General aspects
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mortality
Motorcycles
Retrospective Studies
Traffic accidents & safety
Trauma Severity Indices
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
Human
Medicine
Alcoholic beverage
Treatment
Ethanol
Surgery
Drinking
Object
ISSN:0003-1348, 1555-9823
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Mopeds are not subject to the same laws and jurisdiction as cars or motorcycles, including the requirement of a driver's license. We undertook this study to examine the influence of alcohol (ETOH) on moped crashes. We retrospectively reviewed adult moped injuries compared with motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) and motorcycle crashes (MCCs) from 1995 through 2006. Demographics, severity of injury, mortality, and serum ETOH levels were recorded. Data were analyzed using the Student t test for continuous data and the χ 2 test for proportional data. Motor vehicle crashes accounted for 7186 admissions. MCC and moped crashes numbered 973 and 113, respectively. Although not statistically significant ( P = 0.064), moped crashes yielded the highest mortality (9.7%) compared with MCCs (8.5%) and MVCs (6.7%). An increased association of blood ETOH levels with moped crashes, however, was statistically significant ( P = 0.004). Serum ETOH levels above 0.05 g/dL were observed in 1681 MVCs (23.4%), 241 MCCs (24.8%), and 44 moped crashes (39%). In this study, we discovered that moped crashes demonstrate a significantly higher ETOH involvement than either MVCs or MCCs representing a previously unrecognized public safety risk.
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ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/000313481107700318