This study reviews the existing literature concerning the association between depression and driver safety. Despite its increasing prevalence and its disabling impact on the world’s population, there is surprisingly little research examining the impact of depressive disorders on driver performance. The review begins by examining the early studies of drivers deemed “mentally ill” and the subsequent epidemiological literature including case–control and prospective cohort studies of depressed drivers. The review also examines the more recent experimental investigations of depression and driver performance that have relied on naturalistic measurements and advanced driving simulation. The review concludes with a discussion of relevant issues (e.g., the impact of antidepressants on driver performance, suicide by driving), public policy implications of the research, and future research directions.

In 1998, Ontario passed legislation requiring that all drivers convicted of drinking and driving complete a remedial program, called Back on Track (BOT), before their driver's licences could be reinstated. Based on an assessment, clients are assigned to complete either an "education" program or a "treatment" program, depending on levels of substance-related problems. Several months following completion of their program, participants complete a follow-up interview. We report substance use and related outcome measures on 22,277 BOT participants who completed follow-up between 2000 and 2005. Completion of BOT was associated with significant reductions in the frequency of alcohol and other drug use, number of drinks consumed per drinking occasion, total numbers of substance users, and negative consequences resulting from substance use. A large number of participants became "non-users" of various substances over the course of the program. These findings provide evidence that the remedial program has beneficial effects for participants in both the education and treatment components of BOT.

Progress in assessing the impact of specific policies on the drinking driving problem, and advances in valuing the avoidable costs that result from alcohol-related problems suggest that estimating the impact of policies can be determined with a precision that has not previously been possible. Using research-based estimates of the effects of drinking driving policies in Ontario and elsewhere, we estimate their impact in terms of deaths, injuries, and collisions prevented and costs saved. Estimating these benefits required three steps: 1) reviews of studies to estimate the impact of successful drinking driving policies in Ontario (legal limit (per se) law, raising drinking age from 18 to 19 years, remedial measures, RIDE spot-check program, graduated licensing, administrative licence suspensions, and maintaining the public monopoly on alcohol sales); 2) calculation of lprevention benefitsr to estimate the numbers of deaths, injuries, and collisions prevented; and 3) application of monetary values derived from two methods (human capital n discounted future earnings, willingness to pay) to estimate costs averted. We estimated the total deaths, injuries, and collisions prevented and costs averted for each policy from the year of its introduction to 2006. Between 1970 and 2006, drinking driving policies and programs prevented an estimated total of 4,887 deaths, 178,238 injuries and 132,182 property damage only collisions in Ontario, and total costs averted were estimated at CAN$8.5 Billion (human capital n discounted future earnings method) or CAN$78 Billion (willingness to pay method). These results suggest that drinking driving policies have been of substantial cumulative value to society in preventing deaths, injuries, collisions, and monetary costs.

Objectives: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of street racing among adolescents derived from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), an epidemiological survey of students in Ontario, Canada.Methods: The key response variable, self-reported street racing in past year, was examined in relation to grade level, rural/urban, school marks, cannabis use, drinking and driving, cannabis use and driving, and property, physical, drugs, and weapons delinquencies. All survey estimates were weighted, and variance and statistical tests were corrected for the complex sampling design.Results: Of the 3053 9th- to 12th-graders (66% response rate), 5.6 percent of high-schoolers (an estimated 42,000 in the province) and (20.4% of grade 11 and 12 students with an advanced-level or full license) reported driving a car, truck, or sport utility vehicle (SUV) in a street race in the 12 months before the survey. Logistic regression analysis of the advanced-level or fully licensed students in grades 11 and 12 found that males compared to females and students in grade 11 compared to students in grade 12 had significantly higher adjusted odds of street racing. Supportive of problem behavior theory, students who reported property and drug delinquencies compared to students not engaging in these delinquencies also had significantly higher adjusted odds of street racing.Conclusions: This first population-based study in North America suggested that the prevalence of street racing at 1 in 5 of advanced or fully licensed high-schoolers in grades 11 and 12 poses significant public health concerns, especially related to the potential for unintentional injury.

Justice policy is typically based more on political considerations than on research results. One way to break down barriers between researchers and policy-makers is to encourage partnerships. AUTO21, a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence program, is designed to facilitate partnerships. The Antisocial Behaviour and the Automobile project focuses on auto theft, driving under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, and road rage/driver aggression. The research areas that have had the greatest policy impact benefited from strong partnerships with organizations that have the visibility, authority, and resources to implement significant changes in program funding and social policy. These areas also have an extensive body of prior research.

Aims: On 29 November 1996, Ontario introduced an Administrative Driver's Licence Suspension (ADLS) law, which required that anyone charged with driving with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) over the legal limit of 80 mg% or failing to provide a breath sample would have their licence suspended for a period of 90 days at the time the charge was laid. This study evaluates the effects of Ontario's ADLS law on total driver fatalities over a 25-month period after the law was introduced, and compares Ontario's experience with that of two comparison provinces (Manitoba and New Brunswick) that did not introduce ADLS at that time. Methods: Interrupted time series analysis with ARIMA modeling was applied to the monthly number of drivers killed in Ontario and the control provinces for the period 1 January 1988 to 31 December 1998. Findings: A significant intervention effect was found in Ontario, with ADLS being associated with an estimated reduction of 14.5% in the numbers of fatally injured drivers. No corresponding effect was observed in the control provinces. Conclusions: These data provide evidence that the law produced a general deterrent effect resulting in a reduction in total driver fatalities.

The current study examines the impact of psychological distress on the likelihood of reporting collision involvement in the preceding year. Two measures of psychological distress were obtained from the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12): depression–anxiety and social functioning. Data are based on the 2002–2004 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor (36 months), a repeated cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 and older (n = 4935). Logistic regression analyses were performed on collision involvement within the past 12 months with the measures of depression–anxiety, social functioning and demographic factors as independent variables. The analyses revealed that the odds of involvement in a collision in the last 12 months were significantly related to the demographic factors of age, location of residence, income, educational level and marital status. After controlling for demographic factors, the odds of collision involvement increased significantly as the depression–anxiety score increased (odds ratio = 1.05 for each unit increase). These results suggest that higher levels of psychological distress, as indicated by scores on the depression–anxiety scale of the GHQ-12, are associated with higher likelihood of collision involvement in the previous year. Research to understand the link observed here between distress and collision risk in the general population is needed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

OBJECTIVE:To identify alcohol-related factors that influence mortality rates from suicide.METHOD:We examined the impact of per capita consumption of total alcohol, spirits, beer, and wine; unemployment rate; and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership rate on total, male and female suicide mortality rates in Manitoba during 1976 to 1997. Time series analyses with autoregressive integrated moving average modelling were applied to total, male and female suicide rates. The analyses performed included total alcohol consumption, spirits consumption, beer consumption, and wine consumption. Missing AA membership data were interpolated with cubic splines.RESULTS:Total alcohol consumption, and consumption of beer, spirits, and wine individually, were significantly and positively related to female suicide mortality rates. Spirits and wine were positively related to total and male mortality rates. AA membership rates were negatively related to total and female suicide rates. Unemployment rates were positively related to male and total suicide rates.CONCLUSIONS:The data confirm the important relations between per capita consumption measures and suicide mortality rates. Additionally, the results for AA membership rates are consistent with the hypothesis that AA membership and alcohol abuse treatment can exert beneficial effects observable at the population level.

AddictionVolume 102, Issue 5 p. 831-831 Introduction to Addictive Behaviours REGINALD G. SMART, REGINALD G. SMART Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author REGINALD G. SMART, REGINALD G. SMART Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 April 2007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01815.xCitations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume102, Issue5May 2007Pages 831-831 RelatedInformation

Problem: This study examines the relationships between collision involvement and several measures of cannabis use, including driving after using cannabis, among drivers, based on a population survey of Ontario adults in 2002 and 2003. Method: Logistic regression analyses examined self-reported collision involvement in the last 12 months by lifetime use of cannabis, past year use of cannabis, and past year driving after using cannabis, while controlling for demographic characteristics. Results: We found that the odds of reporting collision involvement was significantly higher among cannabis users, and among those who reported driving after cannabis use. Some evidence for a dose-response relationship was seen as well. Discussion: Cannabis users and people who report driving after cannabis use are also more likely to report being involved in a collision in the past year. These observations suggest that collision prevention efforts could be aimed at these groups. Additional work to determine the causal pathways involved in the relationships observed here is needed. Impact on Industry: None. (c) 2007 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background To investigate the association among illicit drug use, psychiatric distress and road rage victimization and offending. Particular attention is given to the most serious forms of road rage behaviour. Methods The data are based on the 2002 CAMH Monitor and include a sample of 2,421 Ontario adults aged 18 and older. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with illicit drug use and psychiatric distress (GHQ) and demographic factors as independent variables. Results Past-year road rage victimization was reported by 42% of the sample and 31% reported any type of road rage offending. Approximately 5% were classified as respondents with serious road rage involvement. The logistic regression analyses revealed significant relationships between illicit drug use and road rage outcomes. Cannabis use was significantly associated with general road rage victimization and offending, while stimulant use substantially increased the likelihood of victimization and membership in the serious road rage classification. Psychiatric distress significantly increased the odds of both road rage victimization and serious road rage involvement. Conclusion These data reveal different indicators of road rage offending, victimization and serious involvement. Further work is needed to clarify the mechanisms associated with the relationship among stimulant use, psychiatric distress and serious road rage involvement.

In this study, we assess the impact of driver education on the risk of collisions in a Graduated Licensing System (GLS). Ontario's GLS requires all new drivers to successfully pass through two stages of graduated license (referred to as G1 and G2, respectively) before full licensure is granted. Surveys of driving behaviour and related factors were administered to Grades 11 and 12 students with a graduated license in seven Ontario schools in 1996 and 1998. A total of 1533 students completed the survey in 2 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significantly lower odds of self-reported collision involvement among G1 license holders with driver education (OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12-0.83). No significant effects were observed for G2 license holders. Other significant predictors of collisions include sex of driver, months of licensure and kilometers driven for G2 license holders. These results suggest that the impact of driver education may be dependent on the stage of driver learning in which it occurs.

AddictionVolume 101, Issue 4 p. 610-610 THE TAMING OF COCAINE II REGINALD SMART, REGINALD SMART Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author REGINALD SMART, REGINALD SMART Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 09 March 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01451.x Compiled by Susan Savva and Griffith Edwards Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume101, Issue4April 2006Pages 610-610 RelatedInformation

BACKGROUND Research has shown a strong link between alcohol use and a variety of problems, including violence. Parker and colleagues have presented a selective disinhibition theory for the link between alcohol use and homicide (and other violence) that posits a causal relationship that is also influenced by other situational and contextual factors. This model is particularly well suited for aggregate-level investigations. In this study, we examine the impact of alcohol factors, including consumption measures and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership rates, on homicide mortality rates in Ontario, and test predictions derived from the selective disinhibition model. METHODS Time series analyses with ARIMA modeling were applied to total, male, and female homicide rates in Ontario between 1968 and 1991. The analyses performed included total alcohol consumption, spirits consumption, beer consumption, and wine consumption. Missing AA membership data were interpolated with cubic splines. RESULTS For the total population and males, homicide rates were significantly and positively related to total alcohol consumption and to the consumption of beer and spirits. They were also negatively related to AA membership rates in the analyses involving spirits and wine and positively related to unemployment rates in the analyses involving beer, wine, and total alcohol. Among females, none of the measures were significant predictors of homicide mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS These data provide important support for the selective disinhibition model and confirm important relationships between per capita consumption measures and homicide mortality rates, especially among males, seen in other studies. Additionally, the results for AA membership rates are consistent with the hypothesis that AA membership and treatment for misuse of alcohol can exert beneficial effects observable at the population level.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between illicit drug and alcohol use, problem drinking, and road rage. Particular attention is devoted to the association between these behaviors and frequent involvement in road rage activities. The data are taken from the 2002 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Monitor, a representative telephone survey with a sample of 2421 adults aged 18 and older in Ontario. A cluster analysis was performed and analysis of variance procedures were used to test for group differences. The cluster analysis revealed five distinct groups involved in various types of road rage behavior. Frequent road ragers, accounting for 5.3% of the sample, were involved in the most severe forms of road rage behavior and were most likely (24%) to report problem drinking and past year cannabis (23.8%), cocaine (5.4%), and ecstasy (10%) use. These data indicate that illicit drug use and alcohol problems are significantly greater for those involved in the most serious forms of road rage behavior. Further work is needed to identify the mechanisms by which illicit drug use and problem drinking are linked to road rage.