The burden of injuries due to drunk drivers has been estimated only indirectly. Indeed, alcohol is considered one of the most important contributing cause of car crash injuries and its effect on cognitive functions needs to be better elucidated. Aims of the study were i) to examine the effect of alcohol on attentive abilities involved while driving, and ii) to investigate whether Italian law limits for safe driving are sufficiently accurate to prevent risky behaviours and car crash risk while driving. We conducted a cross-over study at IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Rehabilitation Hospital in Rome. Thirty-two healthy subjects were enrolled in this experiment. Participants were submitted to an attentive test battery assessing attention before taking Ethylic Alcohol (EA-) and after taking EA (EA+). In the EA+ condition subjects drank enough wine until the blood alcohol concentration, measured by means of Breath Analyzer, was equal to or higher than 0.5 g/l. Data analysis revealed that after alcohol assumption, tonic and phasic alertness, selective, divided attention and vigilance were significantly impaired when BAC level was at least 0.5 g/l. These data reveal that alcohol has a negative effect on attentive functions which are primarily involved in driving skills and that Italian law limits are adequate to prevent risky driving behaviour.

中文翻译：

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乙醇对与驾驶能力有关的专心功能的影响。

酒后驾车造成的伤害负担仅是间接估算的。确实，酒精被认为是造成车祸伤害的最重要原因之一，需要进一步阐明其对认知功能的影响。该研究的目的是：i）研究酒精对驾车时所涉及的注意力能力的影响，以及ii）调查意大利法律关于安全驾驶的限制是否足够准确，以防止在驾驶时发生危险行为和车祸风险。我们在罗马的IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia康复医院进行了一项交叉研究。本实验招募了32名健康受试者。参与者在服用乙醇（EA-）之前和服用EA（EA +）之后接受专心测试，评估注意力。在EA +条件下，受试者喝足够的酒，直到通过呼吸分析仪测得的血液酒精浓度等于或高于0.5 g / l。数据分析表明，酒精摄入后，当BAC含量至少为0.5 g / l时，进补和阶段性警觉性，选择性，分散注意力和警惕性会明显受损。这些数据表明，酒精会对主要涉及驾驶技能的专心功能产生负面影响，并且意大利法律限制足以阻止危险的驾驶行为。