ABSTRACT
Alcohol abuse is the single most important factor contributing to bodily damage and adds considerably to the severity of the injuries that may be sustained. The role played by alcohol in deaths due to motor vehicle accidents is well known; excessive levels of alcohol are found in half of the fatalities. It is also a major contributor to pedestrian accidents, to falls, attempted suicides, assaults, and murder. Although there have been improvements over the last two decades in reducing casualties from drinking and driving, tighter legislative controls together with greater public awareness of the problem could produce a dramatic reduction in the number of road accidents.
