I recently co-authored a paper detailing research involving linking toxicology records for alcohol breath tests performed on Connecticut drivers back to any associated motor vehicle crash records reported by police.

In Connecticut, toxicology and crash data are collected on separate forms and reported to different state agencies (State DOT and State toxicology lab). This means that these records are not electronically linked, and outside of DUI prosecution, the information they hold may not typically be shared between state agencies. Because of this, the true prevalence of impaired driving in the state cannot be determined with crash data alone and in turn, the crashes and injuries that result as a consequence of impaired driving may be difficult to track using only toxicology data. Linking breathalyzer data with crash data joins BrAC (breath alcohol content) results with crash and individual injury severity outcomes, as well as other possible contributing driver actions.

Linking Crash and Breathalyzer Data in Connecticut explains the methodology used to link these two data sets together, including the criteria used in place of personal and private data, which can be a major hinderance to linking data for analysis. This paper details one part of a multi-year effort to link transportation data from different sources together for comprehensive research.

Linking Crash and Breathalyzer Data in Connecticut is now available to read in Traffic Injury Prevention.

Citation: Marisa E. Auguste & Jennifer Pawelzik (16 Feb 2024): Linking crash and breathalyzer data in Connecticut, Traffic Injury Prevention, DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2024.2314589