automobile age, as shown in an editorial published in the 1904 issue of the Quarterly ... in the United States; by 1905, the number had increased to 7 7 , 4 ~ . ~.
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ALCOHOL-RELATED ACCIDENTS IN 1904
COMMENTARY
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Alcohol-Related Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents in 1904 James G.Wigmore *
Alcohol-related fatal motor vehicle accidents ("FMVAs") are sometimes thought to be a relatively recent problem that occurred only with the advent of the modern automobile capable of high speeds. However, these fatalities have existed since the dawn of the automobile age, as shown in an editorial published in the 1904 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Inebriety:
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in the United States; by 1905, the number had increased to 7 7 , 4 ~ . ~ In Canada in 1905, 600 motor vehicles were registered.4 Some 80 years later, in 1981, motor vehicle registrations increased to 123,461,507in the United States and 10,818,000 in ~ a n a d a . ~ The number of deaths due to FMVAs have also multiplied. There were 46,056 such deaths in the United States in 1986; alcohol was involved in approximately 24,000 (52 per cent).6 In Ontario, a recent study of 2,655 FMVA deaths from March 1, 1982, to July 31, 1984, showed that of 1169 fatally injured drivers, 667 (57.1 per cent) had alcohol detected in the blood.7 It is an interesting and perhaps sad commentary on human nature that a 1904 article still has relevance to the problem of alcoholrelated FMVAs today.
We have received a communication obtaining the history of twenty-five fatal accidents occurring to automobile wagons. Fifteen persons occupying these wagons were killed outright. five more died two days later and three died a few weeks after the accident, making twenty-three persons killed. Fourteen persons were injured, some seriously. A careful inquiry showed that in nineteen of these accidents the driver had used spirits within an hour or more of the disaster. The other six drivers were moderate drinkers but it was not ascertained whether they had used spirits preceding the accident. The author of this communication shows very clearly that the management of automobile wagons is far more dangerous for men who drink than the driving of locomotives on steel rails. Inebriates and moderate drinkers are the most incapable of all persons to drive motor wagons. The general palsy and diminished power of control of both the reason and senses are certain to invite disaster in every anempt to guide such wagons. The precaution of railroad companies to have only total abstainers guide their engines will soon extend to owners and drivers of these new motor wagons.l
The article concludes with a prediction and a somewhat morbid invitation: With the increased popularity of these wagons. accidents of this kind will rapid1 multiply. and we invite our readers to make notes of disasters of this kind. ?
There has indeed been a rapid increase in the popularity of "automobile wagons". In 1900, 8,000 motor vehicles were registered
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Of tbe Centre of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Toronto. Ontario. Editorial (1904) Q. J. Inebriety 308. Ibid. at 309.
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7
World Book Encyclopedia (Chicago: World Book Childcraft International Ltd., 1981) at 920. Ibid. Collier's Encyclopedia (New York: Macmillan Education, 1986) at 329. M.W. Pemne, R.C. Peck & J.G. Fell, "Epidemiologic Perspectives on Drunk Driving" in Surgwn General's Workshop on Drunk Driving (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, December 14-16, 1988) 35. G. Cimbura. D.M. Lucas, R.C. Bennen & A.C. Donaldson, "Incidence and Toxicological Aspects of Cannabis and Ethanol Detected in 1394 Fatally Injured Drivers and Pedestrians in Ontario (1982-1984)" (1990) J. Forens. Sci. 1035.
