TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Did amendments to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act in 2009-2010 affect the proportion of alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions seen at a Level I trauma centre over a 10-year period?
JO  - Canadian journal of emergency medicine
A1  - Garnett, Meghan
A1  - Charyk Stewart, Tanya
A1  - Miller, Michael R.
A1  - Lim, Rodrick
A1  - Van Aarsen, Kristine
A1  - Millard, Wanda
SP  - 106
EP  - 111
VL  - 19
IS  - 02
N2  - OBJECTIVES To determine if changes to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (OHTA) in 2009 and 2010 had an effect on the proportion of alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) presenting to a trauma centre over a 10-year period. <br><br>METHODS A retrospective review of the trauma registry at a Level I trauma centre in southwestern Ontario was undertaken. The trauma registry is a database of all trauma patients with an injury severity score (ISS) ≥12 and/or who had trauma team activation. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Interrupted time series analyses with ARIMA modeling were performed on quarterly data from 2004-2013. <br><br>RESULTS A total of 377 drivers with a detectable serum ethanol concentration (SEC) were treated at our trauma centre over the 10-year period, representing 21% of all MVCs. The majority (330; 88%) were male. The median age was 31 years, median SEC was 35.3 mmol/L, and median ISS was 21. A total of 29 (7.7%) drinking drivers died from their injuries after arriving to hospital. There was no change in the proportion of drinking drivers after the 2009 amendment, but there was a significant decline in the average SEC of drinking drivers after changes to the law. There was no difference in the proportion of drinking drivers ≤21 years after introduction of the 2010 amendment for young and novice drivers. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS There was a significance decline in the average SEC of all drinking drivers after the 2009 OHTA amendment, suggesting that legislative amendments may have an impact on drinking before driving behaviour. <p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1481-8035
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cem.2016.343
ID  - ref1
ER  -