Most of these worries center upon the effect that alcohol abuse can inflict upon healthy development, or the odds that a young person will get into an automobile accident while under the influence. But an April 9 New York Times article by Jennifer 8. Lee called attention to another danger: biking while intoxicated.
Some 21 percent of autopsies for New York City bicyclists who died within three hours of their accidents detected alcohol in the body, according to a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study that examined fatal bicycling accidents in New York City from 1996 to 2005.
"It's something we have to call attention to," said Catherine Stayton, director of the health department's injury epidemiology unit. "To learn this is new for us. We want to get that information out there." ...
The study also found that alcohol was detected in six percent of the drivers involved in bicycle crashes.
Labels: alcohol_abuse, teenagers, safety
Posted By: Aspen/CRC