Citation

Zusman ME, Huber JD. J. Saf. Res. 1979; 11(3): 132-137.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Drivers were stopped on city streets on weekend nights in a large midwestern city. In the course of a five-minute interview, four measures of alcohol consumption were made. Interviewers indicated a personal initial reaction as to whether the driver had been drinking. Second, the interviewers attempted to observe the presence of positional alcohol nystagmus by asking drivers to tilt their heads. Third, drivers were asked if they had been drinking alcohol. Finally, a breath sample was taken and later analyzed for blood alcohol concentration. Analysis of the results, using blood-alcohol concentration as a criterion measure, indicates that interviewers were conservative in their estimates, making a high percentage of false negatives, and conservative in their observations, indicating "cannot determine" most often in positive cases. A high percentage of drivers gave false negatives although false positives also occurred. Situational factors are suggested as possible reasons for invalid responses.