Blood Alcohol Concentration in Texas: Improving Medical Examiner and County Performance

Medical examiners and justices of the peace are required by statute to report certain data, namely blood alcohol concentration (BAC) toxicology results to the Texas Department of Transportation's Crash Records Section (TxDOT-CRS). However, occasionally BAC toxicology reporting is not performed as required. Failing to report BAC toxicology results can adversely impact the amount of federal funding that is available to the State of Texas for alcohol and drug traffic safety programs. The missing data also lessens the ability of stakeholders to provide an accurate accounting of the high number of alcohol and/or drug related fatal crashes that are experienced in Texas annually. The purpose of this report is to detail the extent to which alcohol and/or drugs play a role in fatal crashes in Texas. By examining the crash reports from the Crash Records Information System (CRIS) and evaluating them to determine the level that BAC toxicology reporting is completed by counties and medical examiners offices, this report acts as a formative tool for TxDOT. The report also examines the BAC toxicology reporting practices that are being carried out by Medical Examiners and Justices of the Peace in this state. In addition, the report details the reporting practices of other states and different strategies that could be adopted by Texas to improve BAC toxicology reporting. During Fiscal Year 2018, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) conducted surveys of medical examiners and justices of the peace to determine the process each office under takes when ordering and reporting BAC toxicology results. In addition, TTI conducted a series of webinars and presentations to educate medical examiners and justices of the peace on their duty to report as well as BAC toxicology reporting process in order to improve the overall BAC reporting rate for fatal crashes in Texas. Finally, TTI conducted a one-day Summit on Improving Blood Alcohol Concentration Reporting in Texas to educate medical examiners and justices of the peace on the importance of BAC toxicology reporting. Regrettably, missing BAC toxicology results still exist in the state, but that number continues to decrease each year. Building a bridge between medical examiners, justices of the peace and TxDOT can play a significant role in the increasing BAC toxicology reporting for this state.