50% of the deceased drivers were under the influence of alcohol, drugs and psychotropic drugs

Alcohol, drugs and medications are one of the main risk factors causing traffic accidents. Driving or moving under the influence of these substances increases the probability of suffering an accident and its consequences. 

According to the 'Memory of toxicological findings in fatal victims of traffic accidents' for the year 2020, of the total of 597 drivers who died in a traffic accident and underwent autopsy and toxicological analysis, 2911 (48.7%) tested positive for alcohol, drugs of abuse and/or psychotropic drugs. 3.2% more than in 2019.

The Report has been prepared by the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences with the collaboration of the National Road Safety Observatory of the DGT and, for the first time, to the analyzes carried out by this Institute, those carried out by four Institutes of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Catalonia, Basque Country, Aragon and Murcia) have been added, which allows us to have data from all the Communities Autonomous.

In this study, the data of 597 drivers and 136 pedestrians who died in a traffic accident have been analyzed. 

• Drivers

Alcohol continues to be the substance most consumed by deceased drivers, followed by cocaine and cannabis and, in third place, psychotropic drugs. Just over 31% tested positive for alcohol, 20% for drugs of abuse and 13.4% for psychotropic drugs. As in previous years, 95% of those positive were men, and only 5% corresponded to women. By age, the group with the most positives was 25 to 54 years old (more than 68%).

One fact worth highlighting is the high blood alcohol level among the positives: 78.5% showed a rate equal to or greater than 1.2 g/L. What is supposed to be very severe degrees of intoxication.  Likewise, global data indicate that the most consumed psychotropic drugs were benzodiazepines, followed by antidepressants and opioids. Comparing the figures from recent years, the following stands out: the increase in drugs, 7.6% more, an increase of 3.1% in alcohol consumption and 1% in psychotropic drugs. 

• Pedestrians

Likewise, in 2020, there has been an increase in pedestrians killed by vehicles with positive results. Of the 136 pedestrians analyzed and subjected to an autopsy, 56 (41") gave positive results. Alcohol was also the most consumed substance (close to 54%), followed by psychotropic drugs (slightly more than 48%), and, finally, drugs of abuse (25%). It should also be noted that those who died with alcohol showed very high blood alcohol levels: three out of four reached or exceeded 1.20 g/L.

By age, those over 65 years of age were the most present, four out of ten; and by sex, 77% were men and 23% women. 

Reason for the increase in drug and medication consumption while driving