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Course: Association of Rideshare Use With Alcohol-Associated Motor Vehicle Crash Trauma

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2021-06-09

Key Points

Question By decreasing impaired driving, are rideshare services associated with changes in motor vehicle trauma rates?
Findings This multicenter cohort study obtained hospital data at both major trauma centers in Houston, Texas; convictions for impaired driving from the Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s office; and rideshare use data from Uber and Google for Houston. Rideshare volume had a significant negative correlation with the incidence of motor vehicle–associated trauma, and this was most evident in those younger than 30 years; a significant decrease in convictions for impaired driving was associated with the introduction of rideshare services.
Meaning By using rideshares to avoid impaired driving, young people may aid in decreasing motor vehicle trauma.

Abstract

Importance Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are an important public health concern. Recent trends suggest that introducing rideshare services has decreased the incidence of MVCs. However, detailed analyses linking rideshare volume, convictions for impaired driving, and nonfatal MVC traumas remain inconclusive.
Objective To determine if there is an association between rideshare use and MVC traumas and convictions for impaired driving in Houston, Texas.
Design, Setting, and Participants This multicenter cohort study was conducted between January 2007 and November 2019 with hospital data from the Red Duke Trauma Institute within the Memorial Hermann Hospital–Texas Medical Center and Ben Taub General Hospital. Rideshare data from Uber and Google covered trips taken within Houston, Texas, from February 2014 (the date of deployment of Uber to Houston) to December 2018. Impaired driving convictions included all indictments made by the Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s office from January 2007 to December 2018. All adults with MVC traumas evaluated at both centers in the study population (individuals >16 years with a mechanism of injury classified under “motor vehicle collision”) were included. Impaired driving incidents were included only if the final legal outcome was conviction.
Main Outcomes and Measures The primary study outcomes were the incident rate ratios for hourly MVC traumas and daily impaired driving convictions.
Results A total of 23,491 MVC traumas (involving patients with a mean [SD] age of 37.9 [17.8] years and 14,603 male individuals [62.1%]), 93,742 impaired driving convictions, and more than 24 million Uber rides were analyzed. Following the introduction of Uber in February 2014, MVC traumas decreased by 23.8% (from a mean [SD] of 0.26 [0.04] to 0.21 [0.06] trauma incidents per hour) during peak trauma periods (Friday and Saturday nights). The incident rate ratio of MVC traumas following Uber deployment was 0.33 (95% CI, 0.17-0.67) per 1000 indexed rides (P?=?.002). Furthermore, rideshare use was associated with a significant, geographically linked reduction in impaired driving convictions between January 2014 to December 2019 (incidence rate ratio, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.73-0.78]; P?<?.001).
Conclusions and Relevance In this study, introducing rideshare services in the Houston metropolitan area was associated with significant reductions in MVC traumas and impaired driving convictions. Increased use of rideshares may be an effective means of reducing impaired driving and decreasing rate of MVC traumas.


Educational Objective To determine if the use of rideshare services for impaired driving was associated with changes in motor vehicle crash rates.


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