Alcohol’s Impact on Man’s Activities: Its Role in Unnatural Death

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Abstract
The association of alcohol with unnatural death, especially automobile accidents, is widely accepted. Unfortunately, national statistics often do not include information from medical examiners, which can be a significant contribution. This report summarizes the experience of the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator during the period 1974–76. Thirty-nine per cent of automobile drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents and 40% of pedestrians killed by motor vehicles had some blood alcohol present. The relationship of alcohol and other violent crimes is summarized, indicating the involvement of alcohol in 39% to 74% of the several types of crimes presented. The expense of alcohol-related accidents is presented. The psychological autopsy was used to prepare profiles of drivers involved in a variety of vehicular accidents. Drivers were grouped into five categories according to behavioral characteristics that were likely to have contributed to their accidents. Twenty-eight per cent of drivers involved in serious and fatal accidents in this study were judged to have had behavioral disorders in which alcohol often played a role.

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