A Study of Incidence of Alcohol Use In Fatal Road Traffic Accidents

Road Traffic accidents (RTAs) are a leading killer in India snatching valuable human resources resulting in undefined economic and social loss. A leading cause for this malady is alcohol consumption and subsequent misadventure on the road which not only harms him but also the poor ones on the road. Though the co relation between the two is well known, we have been unable to tackle this menace. The present study was carried out with a view to analyze the incidence of alcohol consumption among the victims of road traffic incidents brought for autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine, GMCH, Guwahati. We found that males are most exclusively involved in accidents following alcohol consumption with 20–29 age group most affected. Majority of the victims were lowly educated and were pedestrians or riders of two wheelers. The mean BAC is found to be 167.28 mg/dl. Concrete steps needs to be taken starting from Government intervention to public awareness to prevent this harmful occurrence.