Citation

Werwath C, Lewrenz H, Puschel K. Blutalkohol 1999; 36(5): 290-297.

Affiliation

Institut fur Rechtsmedizin, 22529 Hamburg, Germany

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety and Bund gegen Alkohol und Drogen im Straßenverkehr, Publisher Steintor Verlag)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the prognostic validity of expert assessments of driving ability in Hamburg from 1993 to 1995. Out of the total of 316 expert assessments examined in this study, 229 were so called 'Obergutachten' conducted on the basis of at least one prior negative expert assessment, and 87 were initial expert assessments. All the expertises were produced due to requests of the relevant authorities concerning clarification of the question of driving ability of persons with a case history of one or more instances of driving while under the influence of alcohol. It was examined if- and, if so, to what degree - the prognostic evaluations concerning driving ability based on the prognostic criteria established by a psychiatric expert, Prof. Lewrenz, could stand the test of practice. The study was designed to provide new evidence concerning the quality of prognostic evaluations, taking into consideration the public interest in traffic safety as well as an individual driver's right to a fair and accurate assessment. The main finding of this study was the low number of recidivistic drink drivers - 6.5% - over a period of three years after regaining their driving licences. This low percentage of recidivism impressively highlights the importance of further expert assessments in cases in which the findings of the initial expert assessment concerning his driving ability (medico-psychological examination) is contested by the driver. The prognostic relevance of the concentration of alcohol in the blood was found to be relative, the evidentiary value of laboratory tests was experienced to be somewhat lower than had been hitherto assumed, and multiple subjective influences on the evaluation standards of the respective experts were seen as a distinct possibility. Blood test results concerning the concentration of alcohol in the blood appear to indicate that the degree of alcohol concentration is indicative of the degree of habituation rather than that of addiction. With a majority of drivers who had been subjected to chemical laboratory tests, analysis showed the results to fall within the norm, and the analysis of demographic data showed that evaluation standards were subject to subjective influences mainly related to psychological and social factors like a driver's education or job, which, however, are unsuitable as a basis for establishing prognostic criteria. The results of this study underline the necessity of further expert assessments in medico-psychological examinations, whose high prognostic validity, which could not be achieved by the standard expert assessments, is proven by the low incidence of recidivism.

DWI