Waller originally stumbled on the phenomenon in the early 1970s in a study by the University of North Carolina. The TRI project surveyed more than 800 drivers and passengers in Southeastern Michigan emergency rooms to determine correlations between substance abuse and extremities of injuries. The TRI findings supported the original UNC conclusions. The study showed that 55 percent of drunken drivers are likely to suffer fatal or serious injuries in automobile accidents. This rate is much higher for both sober individuals and those under the influence of other drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine, Waller said.
Alcohol is far and away the major problem on the highway.
Although researchers are not sure exactly how alcohol causes this effect, Dr. Frederick Blow, assistant research scientist at the TRI, believes it may relate to intracellular responses. The important thing in the paper we published is that alcohol is making injuries, and secondly, that drugs aren't having a major effect. Its root as a biological problem suggests the results may not be restricted to motor vehicle collisions, but include normal everyday accidents as well, Waller said. Other results of the study showed that drunken drivers are more likely to partake in hazardous activities causing accidents and usually sustain more vehicular damage than those affected by illicit drugs. The study shows that crashes by illicit drug users are more similar to sober drivers than intoxicated ones.