Drunk walking

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Drunk walking describes people intoxicated by alcohol walking in public spaces. Whereas there are long standing social stigmas and laws against drunk driving, only more recently have the personal and social dangers of drunk walking become apparent; pretending being drunk could become however a misdemeanor in Iowa. [1] Pedestrians under the influence of alcohol may be less likely to use crosswalks and more likely to cross against the traffic lights. [ citation needed ] Alcohol use is connected to more serious injuries with longer hospital stays if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle. [2]

Contents

Statistics

US

U.S. department of transportation data from 2009 reported that 4,092 pedestrians were killed and 13.6% of them were under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication. [3] Pedestrian injury accounts for 11% of all road user fatalities. [ citation needed ] In the United States in 2006 there were 4,784 fatalities and 61,000 injuries from pedestrian injury. [ citation needed ] In 2007 there were 4,654 fatalities and 70,000 injuries. [ citation needed ]

Canada

In Canada, injury is the prominent source of death for those under 45 years of age and the fourth most collective reason of death for all ages. [ citation needed ] Traumatic pedestrian injury results in nearly 4,000 hospitalisations in Canada yearly. [ citation needed ] The outcome of these injuries come from the interaction of environmental factors changing. [4]

Australia

In 2011, the Pedestrian Council of Australia launched a campaign called "Never Let a Mate Walk Home Drunk", in an effort to curb the high number of pedestrians killed on Australian roads. 20% of pedestrians killed on Australian roads have a BAC exceeding 0.05%, [5] and 30% of those killed or seriously injured have a BAC over 0.08%. [6]

Between 2003–2006 in Adelaide there were 40 pedestrian fatalities, and of those 12 were found to be drunk. In three or four of these cases it was found that they were either lying or sitting on the ground at night. [7] In Australia, men are the biggest culprits with a study done between 1998–2002 with 38% of fatal incidents to pedestrians happening to males ages 15–54, and out of those 78% were over the legal limit to drive. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle with the operator's ability to do so impaired as a result of alcohol consumption, or with a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. For drivers 21 years or older, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is illegal. For drivers under 21 years old, the legal limit is lower, with state limits ranging from 0.00 to 0.02. Lower BAC limits apply when operating boats, airplanes, or commercial vehicles. Among other names, the criminal offense of drunk driving may be called driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI), or operating while impaired (OWI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedestrian</span> Person traveling on foot

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road traffic safety</span> Methods and measures for reducing the risk of death and injury on roads

Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road public transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving under the influence</span> Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an impairing substance

Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence (OVI), drink-driving (UK/Ireland), and ‘’’booze cruising’’’ -is the offense of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs, to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely.

A dram shop is a bar, tavern or similar commercial establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, it is a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid.

Vehicular homicide is a crime that involves the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mothers Against Drunk Driving</span> Nonprofit organization

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired driving policy, whether that impairment is caused by alcohol or any other drug. The Irving, Texas–based organization was founded on September 5, 1980, in California by Candace Lightner after her 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver. There is at least one MADD office in every state of the United States and at least one in each province of Canada. These offices offer victim services and many resources involving alcohol safety. MADD has claimed that drunk driving has been reduced by half since its founding.

Public intoxication, also known as "drunk and disorderly" and "drunk in public", is a summary offense in some countries rated to public cases or displays of drunkenness. Public intoxication laws vary widely by jurisdiction, but usually require an obvious display of intoxicated incompetence or behavior which disrupts public order before the charge is levied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation safety in the United States</span> Overview of transportation safety

Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents yearly killing from 32,479 to nearly 38,680 (+19%) in the last decade. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Random checkpoint</span> Temporary military or police roadblock

A random checkpoint is a military and police tactic. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty roadblock by mobile truck- or armored vehicle-mounted infantry to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or military activity and to check for valid identification and search for contraband, fugitives, or weapons that are not permitted in civilian hands. Random checkpoints are set up to achieve surprise, as opposed to known permanently located checkpoints, which suspects could circumvent. They are often established in locations where they cannot be observed by approaching traffic until it is too late to withdraw and escape without being observed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving in the United States</span> Driving in the country of the United States

86 percent of people in the United States use private automobiles as their primary form of transportation to their workplace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic collision</span> Incident when a vehicle collides with another object

A traffic collision, also called a motor vehicle collision occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy.

Impaired driving is the term used in Canada to describe the criminal offence of operating, having care or the control of a motor vehicle while the person's ability to operate the motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol or a drug. Impaired driving is punishable under multiple offences in the Criminal Code, with greater penalties depending on the harm caused by the impaired driving. It can also result in various types of driver's licence suspensions.

The laws of driving under the influence vary between countries. One difference is the acceptable limit of blood alcohol content before a person is charged with a crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drunk driving</span> Operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol

Drunk driving is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol-related traffic crashes in the United States</span>

Alcohol-related traffic crashes are defined by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as alcohol-related if either a driver or a non-motorist had a measurable or estimated BAC of 0.01 g/dl or above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol-related crime</span> Criminal activities that involve alcohol use

Alcohol-related crime refers to criminal activities that involve alcohol use as well as violations of regulations covering the sale or use of alcohol; in other words, activities violating the alcohol laws. Underage drinking and drunk driving are the most prevalent alcohol‐specific offenses in the United States and a major problem in many, if not most, countries worldwide. Similarly, arrests for alcohol-related crimes constitute a high proportion of all arrests made by police in the U.S. and elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field sobriety testing</span> Battery of tests used by police officers

Field sobriety tests (FSTs), also referred to as standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs), are a battery of tests used by police officers to determine if a person suspected of impaired driving is intoxicated with alcohol or other drugs. FSTs are primarily used in the US, to meet "probable cause for arrest" requirements, necessary to sustain an alcohol-impaired driving conviction based on a chemical blood alcohol test.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road safety in Europe</span> Overview of road safety in Europe

Road safety in Europe encompasses transportation safety among road users in Europe, including automobile accidents, pedestrian or cycling accidents, motor-coach accidents, and other incidents occurring within the European Union or within the European region of the World Health Organization. Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis and impaired driving</span> Overview of the relationship between the use of Cannabis and impaired driving ability

Two main questions arise in the law surrounding driving after having ingested cannabis: (1) whether cannabis actually impairs driving ability, and (2) whether the common practice of testing for THC is a reliable means to measure impairment. On the first question, studies are mixed. Several recent, extensive studies–including one conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and one conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA)–show that drivers with detectable THC in their blood are no more likely to cause car crashes than drivers with no amount of THC in their blood. Others show that cannabis can impair certain abilities important to safe driving –but no studies have been able to show that this increases the actual risk of crashing, or that drivers with THC in their blood cause a disproportionate number of crashes. On the second question, the studies that have been conducted so far have consistently found that THC blood levels and degree of impairment are not closely related. No known relationship between blood levels of THC and increased relative crash risk, or THC blood levels and level of driving impairment, has been shown by single-crash or classic-control studies. Thus, even though it is possible that cannabis impairs driving ability to some extent, there are currently no reliable means to test or measure whether a driver was actually impaired.

References

  1. The Code of Iowa Sec 123.46 states that "a person shall not be intoxicated or simulate intoxication in a public place"
  2. Cohen, Josh (February 9, 2015). "When drunk walking is outlawed, only outlaws will walk drunk". The Works. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  3. "safety traffic facts 2009" (PDF). www.nhtsa.gov. U.S. department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  4. Schuurman, N; Cinnamon, J; Crooks, VA; Hameed, SM (2009). "Pedestrian injury and the built environment: An environmental scan of hotspots". BMC Public Health. 9: 233. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-233. PMC   2714512 . PMID   19602225.
  5. "Pedestrian Council of Australia". 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  6. "The Stats | MAC". www.mac.sa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  7. "Accidents to intoxicated pedestrians in South Australia" (PDF). Centre of automotive safety research. February 2009. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  8. "Male pedestrian fatalities" (PDF). www.infrastructure.gov.au. Australian transport safety bureau. Retrieved 2015-04-15.