Road traffic accidents in Lusaka and blood alcohol.

The present analysis highlights the 37% of deaths due to road traffic accidents 172(79.2%) males and 45(20.8%) females. About 50% deaths involved pedestrians and 15% drivers. Half of the total deaths involved the person below 34 years of age. 26.7% cases showed high blood alcohol more than the statutory limit of 80mg%. 50% of the drinking drivers were below the age of 30 years. The blood alcohol was found in 35 (31.1%) pedestrians out of 109 involved, 9 (17.7%) passengers out of 61, 10 (30.3%) drivers out of 33 and 4 (33.3%) cyclists out of 12 involved in accidents. A steep increase in the incidence of accidents during past years has been tabulated in Table (V) and discussed. One of the major causes for the accident appears to be high blood alcohol levels in the road users.