Statistics

In this graph it is shown how the number of suspected drunken drivers increase when the amount of sold alcohol increase. The graph over the drunken drivers has however higher and clearer peaks than the graph over the amount sold liquor In 1974 one can see that we had the highest amount of sold alcohol and we also had the highest number of suspected drink-drivers. The peaks of suspected drink-drivers however seem to come one year before the peaks of sold alcohol. But the graphs follow one another too well not to be considered connected.

Another study made in Linköping, shows how only having 0,4 ‰ alcohol in your blood reduces our ability to react quickly in traffic and our general ability to drive.

A similar study shows that even the post-toxic effects, a so-called hangover, reduce the ability to drive with approximately 19 %.

In Canada, Ontario, they have made a study that shows a clear connection between the yearly consume of alcohol, between the years 1957 and 1983, and the number of death accidents that involved at least one drink-driver. One can draw the conclusion that the connection between drink-drivers and serious traffic accidents is not a problem that is limited to Sweden but exists all over the world.

These figures are from one of the World Health Organisations’ annual studies. One can see that Denmark, France, Italy and Spain have got a considerably larger rate of sold alcohol. France has got the highest selling figures of the five investigated countries. In France they sell 145 % more alcohol than in Sweden. But they also have 143 % more males and 84 % more females in traffic accidents than Sweden.

In both Italy and Spain one has more than twice as many per cent males in traffic accidents as the amount of sold alcohol than in Sweden. So this indicates that they have more traffic accidents on the whole than we have in Sweden.

There are many reasons as to why the Swedish figures over the amount of sold alcohol differ this much from the other countries’. One reason is that we have a different culture that almost considers drinking alcohol an ugly thing whereas in France it is perfectly natural to go and have a drink after work or to drink a glass of wine with the dinner. Another reason might be the fact that up until the nineteen-sixties we had a system that limited the amount of alcohol one could buy.


The graph above shows the alcohol consumption of some countries 1965-95. Of course such comparisons are very difficult to make. The statistics are based on the production of liquors, and that is not always the same as the consumption. The production can in many countries vary from one year to another, even though the consumption is almost constant. Different countries have different ways to register the selling of alcohol and, of course, that also effects the results. In France, for example, many households make their own wines, and that is not visible in the diagrams. One can clearly see that the Swedish consumption is the lowest and almost constant. A conceivable reason could be the rationing of liquors 1919-55 in combination with high prices in the monopoly markets, "Systembolaget". We know that the consumption of alcoholic drinks produces a very much higher risk of traffic accidents, especially fatal accidents. But how much? The curve below shows that the increased risk is already significant for levels of alcohol in the blood which are quite low, and which are very often seen in drivers who are moderate consumers of alcohol and far from being drunk. These drivers are totally unaware of their blood alcohol level and they are taking the risks.

In 1996, there were 400 human beings in Sweden who were killed in traffic accidents. 74 of these accidents were caused by alcohol. That is 18,5 % of the total number of traffic accidents which resulted in a person’s death.

In 1995 220 persons died in the traffic as a direct result of alcohol. Of the 220 killed there were:

51 drunken drivers,

20 passengers of the drink-driver.

23 drunken pedestrians.

15 drunken cyclists.

12 persons that neither were drunk nor had anything to do with the drunk person that caused the accident.

Over 20 000 drivers are caught, every year in Sweden, driving under the influence of liquor.

Only 8 % of these are women but this number is rising slowly.

61 % of the cases were classified as sever drinking and driving which is when the level of alcohol in ones blood is 1,2 ‰ or above.