Efecto del alcohol etílico en la conducción de vehículos a motor, dentro de la normativa vigente, con especial referencia al sistema visual
Effects of ethyl alcohol on driving motor vehicles, in legislation with special reference to visual system

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The consumption of ethylic alcohol may have serious implications when developing complex tasks such as the driving of motor vehicles. The maximum alcohol levels in exhaled air –when driving– are established at 0,15 mg/L (considering new and professional drivers) and 0,25 mg/L (for the rest of the population) in Spain. JUSTIFICATION: Due to the high number of damage caused by traffic accidents in which drivers under the effects of ethylic alcohol are involved, this area of research has attracted the interest of researchers and led them to analyze the possible differences of exploration and visual acuity of those drivers that show a higher ethylic alcohol level than permitted by the law (either > 0,25 mg/L in exhaled air or its equivalent of 0,5 g/L in blood), as indicated by E. Villanueva Cañada in the treatise on "Legal Medicine and Toxicology" -- Gisbert Calabuig (2004). HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study is to determine whether the ingestion of alcohol in dose of ≤ 0,25 mg/L in exhaled air has effects on the visual system and the reaction capacity in subjects that undergo simulated driving tests and their ability to react to different stimuli. OBJECTIVES: Since there may exist an individual susceptibility that causes that effects of ethylic alcohol at the levels allowed by the regulation in Spain to be variable, the intention of this research is to examine its influence on the driving of motor vehicles based on diverse parameters of cognitive (reaction capacity) and visual function (visual acuity and pupil response)...