Editorial Commentary: Resource utilization and outcomes of intoxicated drivers: does evidence of alcohol-impaired driving affect road traffic crash injury outcomes?

The objective of this editorial comment is to assist in putting the controversial reports, many of them cited by Cherry et al. [1], of alcohol as a protective factor into a more comprehensive context according to the following points.(i) There is evidence that alcohol-impaired driving is a strong predictor for involvement in a road traffic crash and severe injury. (ii) There is evidence that crashes associated with alcohol-impairment are different from other crashes in terms of the drivers' age and sex, crash mechanism, type of vehicles involved, use of restraints, etc. (iii) There is no evidence that crash-biomechanics differ from crashes caused by impaired or sober drivers. (iv) There is reason to believe that injuries from road trauma behave similar to those from other trauma. (v) There is reason to believe that evidence or suspicion of acute alcohol intoxication triggers comprehensive trauma management (e.g. transfer to trauma centre, early endotracheal intubation, ICU admission). (vi) There is evidence that alcohol consumption is associated with lower socio-economic status and presence of co-morbidities.The two latter points might explain the results reported by Cherry et al., meaning that the intoxicated casualty is more likely to be provided with a temporary/definitive airway irrespective of acute injuries. Although the impact of social detriments on trauma care cannot be derived from the data presented, lower socio-economic status is known to trigger early demission from hospital to home. Last but not least, intoxicated drivers tend to be of younger age compared to other injured drivers in emergency department samples. This is consistent with Cherry's sample and might explain the trend of decreasing mortality in the intoxicated sample. Age, in fact, is not represented in the injury scores used by Cherry et al., although it does evidently affect injury outcomes.In conclusion, the current evidence does not support either of the proposed impacts of alcohol as a