At 07:42 PM 3/12/04, Kevin Tarr wrote:
I've heard (maybe you can confirm or correct this) that many times the drunk driver is so "relaxed" that he is less injured while the sober person he hits is wide awake and frantically trying to do something to avoid the accident and so is tensed up and likely to be more seriously injured . . .
-- Ronn! :)
I didn't answer the way I wanted to. (Damn this racing brain!)
I meant: you will hear more anecdotal stories about someone walking away from an accident, whether drunk or not, then ones with an injury. You will more easily remember the no-one-was-hurt reports. It's the way the brain works. If I (accidentally) recall a bad memory it feels like a blow to the head; sometimes I'll have a physically reaction. But good memories are easy to recall, are brought back just to savor the experience.
I've heard it from sources in the medical field, which was why I wondered if Debbi (or any of the other list members with medical connections) had heard the same thing. From her answer, it still seems possible that it is anecdotal or a selection effect or that it is a real effect . . .
-- Ronn! :)
Some thing happened to my one e-mail.
'Relaxed' drunk is a myth since imbibers are more injury prone
By Dr. ROBERT WALLACE
Dr. Wallace: Why is it when drunk people are involved in an automobile accident, they rarely get seriously injured while the sober people get killed or maimed? Is it possible that the alcohol makes a person less tense, which could result in less injuries? -- David, Crown Point, Ind.
David: It's a myth that drunks are less likely to be injured in an auto accident. If you have been drinking and are involved in a serious auto accident, you face twice the risk of dying from your injuries as those in the car who haven't been imbibing.
<http://ads.hollandsentinel.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.hollandsentinel.com/feature/index.shtml/23331/Middle/default/empty.gif/39376364633064383430353236316130>
9fbf14.jpg
In other words, the notion that people who have been drinking are protected from injury because they are "relaxed" is false, according to University of Michigan Medical Center researchers.
"Alcohol worsens any injury resulting from an impact -- it renders the person more vulnerable," says Patricia Waller, director of the U of M Transportation Research Institute and a research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry.
"You can have a designated driver who is completely sober and hasn't touched a drop, but if someone else runs a traffic light and hits you and you're in the front seat, the probability of your being seriously injured or killed is higher than if you had never been drinking," Waller says.
Still, she says, the myth that drunks are safe persists. "Even now you will get police officers who swear that a drunk driver will walk off from an accident unscathed while all the sober victims are maimed and mutilated."
Dr. Waller studied how blood alcohol levels relate to the severity of motor vehicle crashes and came up with an unexpected finding. "When we took into account the variables that were associated with the seriousness of the crash -- how badly the car was crushed, for example -- if the driver had been drinking, he or she was more likely to be seriously injured."
Kevin T.
_______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
