Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety

It is impossible in brief compass to adequately review a book of more than 900 pages, containing 93 papers on such varied topics as "Effects of Alcohol on Visual Accommodation and Eye Movement Latency," "Immunoassays for the Detection of Drugs in Drivers," and "Seven Years Experience of Blood-Alcohol Limits in Britain." At best, one might try to identify some unifying trends or philosophies. The very first paper, appropriately addressed to epidemiologic issues, was given by Julian A. Waller, MD, who has done so much in identifying methodologic errors and careless research in this field. Other papers echo Waller's plea for better epidemiologic studies and for the need to set priorities in dealing with the problem of alcohol and other drugs. A number of communications cover pharmacological, physiological, and psychological aspects, particularly the hazardous effects of low and moderate levels of alcohol on the driving performance of certain persons, as well