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I would like to complete and correct the article by Zabel in Blutalkohol XXXII (1995), 254 ff. by adding that the driving ban after speeding offences does not lead to a reduced risk of relapse. Furthermore, the standard federal list of offences punishable by fines is also valid in the Free State of Bavaria, and the principle of in dubio pro securitate is unknown in the German criminal law.

The authors discuss the re-orientation regarding the withdrawal of driving licences, aptitude tests, re-training of drivers and therapy for DUI offenders as proposed by Müller in "Blutalkohol" in 1993. The authors note that Müller's analysis refers to an examination practice which is outdated and no longer compatible with the current development of examination and consultation techniques used by officially recognised medico-psychological examination centres in Germany. Methodological misunderstandings and miscalculations in Müller's analysis are pointed out. In contrast, a diagnostic strategy is presented aiming not only at improving traffic safety but also at optimising justice for each individual case. This also aims at giving advice to DUI offenders on how to improve their fitness for driving using appropriate measures. Special emphasis is put on procedures which enable DUI-offenders to use their time of suspension to genuinely improve their driving fitness with the help of diagnostic and advisory bodies in the medico-psychological examination centres.

By evaluating 100 drinking experiments the formula put forward by Zink and Reinhardt for calculating the BAC at the time of the incident (maximum BAC = BAC at the time of blood sampling + 0.2/1000 per hour + 0.2/1000 added value for the first hour) was tested for its validity in cases when long time spans have to be taken into consideration. This evaluation showed that in cases of high BACs the elimination rate of ethanol during 8 or 9 was even higher than expected when the formula was applied. Even when increasing the additional value for the first hour to 0.3/1000, the calculated maximum BAC did not match the actual BAC measured in all cases.

The paper deals with the fundamental problem: How does the brain (in the way it is and the way it functions) influence human experience, behaviour and social interaction? Deriving from this question, there's the matter of how all this influences people as road users. After some epistemological considerations the following subjects are dealt with the article: the human perception and human "reality", the limits of human imagination, the basis of human learning, the complexity of processes within the brain, the reaction to changes and the ability to concentrate as well as McLean's theory of the triune brain. The subjects are complemented by aspects of biological and socio-cultural evolution of man, starting from evolutionary ethics going right up to the problem of responsibility.

Breath alcohol simulators with aqueous solutions of ethanol (equilibrators) are suitable for simulating the measuring process with a person, while testing different functions of an evidential breath analyser including the temperature measuring device. Therefore they are commonly used for random tests. They are unsuitable for an absolute calibration if the coefficient of solubility of ethanol can not be presumed. Absolute calibrations require the transformation of a known quantity of ethanol within a defined volume into a gaseous state. The concentration of the gas produced in such a way then has to be measured with the analyser to be tested and must be compared with the calculated value. A measuring device with a large volume piston pump was constructed for this purpose. The values of the solubility coefficient coincide with internationally used values.

We report about the allegedly new sobering up preparation called PARTY-PLUS, the ingredients of which resemble very much those of the inefficient "drink with a sobering up effect NEUKAMM-lemonade". In a drinking experiment Verum vs. Placebo (a light mineral water) the inefficiency of the alcohol elimination kinetics is proved once again, especially with regards to the extent of success suggested in advertising. Official bodies of administration of justice and legislation are called upon to oppose such doings of manufacturers and distributors more firmly. This is necessary because expected side effects and health hazards due to the high fructose contents are deliberately played down or concealed altogether.

Microbiological literature implies and furnishes evidence that aliphatic alcohols and the corresponding carboxylates as well as acetone can be produced from ethanol during microbial metabolic processes. Propionate/propanol-1 followed by butyrate can be obtained by means of step-by-step reductive carboxylation of acetyl-CoA. Both butyrate/butanol-1 and caproate/hexanol-1 are typical fermentation products of Clostridium kluyvery. In cases where butyrate decomposition is disrupted up to 50% of butyrate is isomerised to isobutyrate. In addition to ethanol, butyrate and butanol-1, isopropanol and acetone are characteristic products of commercially used Clostridia. One would expect that saccharolytic organisms producing ethanol in addition to other "solvents" (butanol-1, acetone, isopropanol) can also synthesise the solvents if the substrate is changed (ethanol instead of carbohydrate). Under carbon monoxide, formiate and hydrogen, some CODH-active Clostridia can, very efficiently, convert various carboxylates into the corresponding alcohols. There are several groups of organisms present in human intestinal tract that can utilise ethanol and other alcohols.

While making investigations into microbiological literature, the following question was looked into: Are microorganisms able to generate methanol from the basic carbon frame of ethanol? Due to carbon monoxide dehydrogenase complexes some methanogens and acetate oxidisers are able to cleave the carbon bond of acetyl-CoA. Coenzyme bonded methyl groups (methyl-H4MPT, methyl-CoM, methyl-THF) are generated both by means of reduction (methano-genesis) and by means of oxidation (CO2 evolution) of the C2-unit. Usually these are looked at as precursors of methanol. Methanotrophs and certain methylotrophs are able to oxidise methane to methanol by means of oxigenase complexes. The C1-unit supplies coenzyme bonded CO; carbon monoxide can be reduced to methanol very effectively by several Clostridia. Both in vivo analysis of intestinal gases of alcoholised individuals and incubation experiments with certain intestinal groups with marked alcohol, might contribute in judging the real importance of the intestinal micro flora with regard to the problems of ethanol congeners.

Assessing the problem of "alcohol in road traffic" it becomes apparent that most offenders have high BACs (in excess of 1.6 per mille) and that they are repeating offenders. It can therefore be assumed that those people are drink-drivers, which means that, when assessing the offence, the offender's personality as a whole has to be taken into consideration. The DUI offenders themselves usually justify the offence by balming it on the circumstances of a given situation. On the basis of this discrepancy, the published study deals with the question of whether there are any differences between the way DUI offenders judge their personality and self concept and the way other people do. This also leads to the questions of whether the number of offences play a role or not. The self image of 60 male DUI offenders was rated by means of the Giessen test and the Frankfurt self concept scales "problem solving", "confidence in behaviour and decision making", as well as "judgement by others". For the outside judgement, 60 male volunteers were asked to judge DUI convicted drivers. It showed that the DUI convicted drivers assessed their personality to be no different than that of the average person. Their self concept was characterised by positive attributes. However, the outside judgement showed them to be less socially responsive, lacking self control, as well as rather dominant, depressive, reserved and rather inhibited in heterosexual relationships. The self judgement changes with an increasing number of offences, as does the outside judgement to an even greater extend. The latter turns into a more negative judgement. Regarding the self concepts, only the outside judgement proved to be more negative. The number of convictions didn't influence the DUI offenders' self estimation.

The absorption phase of alcohol is typically accompanied by more marked behavioral effects than the elimination phase. The mechanism behind this so-called "rising tide phenomenon" has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesized that the rising tide of alcohol during the absorption phase increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), thus elevating the free water content with consequent edema. The resulting increase in intracranial pressure, combined with alcohol's direct toxic effects, results in a synergetic reinforcement of the symptoms of intoxication. To test this hypothesis we performed proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the human brain during the alcohol absorption and elimination phases. Our results indicate that the alcohol-induced transient opening of the BBB is a possible factor behind the rising tide phenomenon.

The Legislator's decision not to lower the 0.8 per mile alcohol level limit of the section 240 StVG runs counter to the tendency of fighting dring driving altogether. This decision was made despite the fact, that according to current medical science the risk limit lies at 0.4 per mile. It can't be justified by the "ultima ratio" principle which was introduced by the legislator for decision making. Much on the contrary, it suggests a development where considerations will no longer be applied only for the protection of the citizen. Here we can observe a continuation of the interpretation of the alcohol level limits which seem to simply serve as a means of ensuring a conviction. The economical analysis of the law is the theoretical background to this consideration which dominated by this process. This analysis does not take any further limitations of legislative powers into consideration with the exception of effectiveness, efficiency and its maximum use under the political and economic aspects. Therefore it allows the protection of the individual to be obscured by these maxims. However, lowering of the alcohol level risk limit to 0.4 per mile should not be insisted on, but instead there should be a call for the introduction of an alcohol ban altogether. This request could be justified with the lack of the legal basis of the alcohol level limits.

72% of a collective of chronic alcoholics (DSM-III-R, ICD 9), who were admitted under the influence of alcohol in order to undergo alcohol withdrawal, showed a serum methanol concentration (SMC) above 10 mg/l. This level is usually considered to be the one for the detection of regular alcohol consumption. The SMC values were considerably higher in cases where alcoholic beverages with a higher methanol content were consumed rather than the ones lower in methanol. In the majority of patients a decrease of the methanol concentration could only be detected once an individually varying limit concentration of ethanol (0-0.62 g/kg) was reached. There were, however, a few exceptions where the elimination of methanol independent from the ethanol concentration could be seen. Contrasting the general collective, these 'ethanol independent' methanol eliminators showed a much higher serum level of ethanol and methanol at the time of admission. As a sign of addiction, all patients showed increased beta 60 values for ethanol and preferred high proof beverages, which at the same time have high methanol contents.

With the co-operation of a further 13 institutes and as a continuation of our own epidemiological-statistical survey, we recorded the total and relative distribution (frequency profile) of the blood alcohol concentration of car drivers for the 3rd quarter 1990 and the 1st quarter 1991. The participating institutes recorded almost 27,000 blood samples and compared them with results of the first part of the study (1989). The survey dealt separately with sex-, age- and time of day-distribution of drivers involved and not involved in road accidents. One of our repeatedly presented field research into the problem of "alcohol and road safety", once again, provided to be a useful method in the run-up to the unprejudiced alcohol test which we are striving for. We noticed characteristic changes in the frequency profiles of the old and the new counties (Bundesländer) in Germany in the 1st (1989) and the 2nd (1990/91) report of the study. The results of Police supervisory operations in the administrative district of Cologne have basically given useful indications as to their epidemiological-statistical value as evidence.

The publisher describes the possible problems arising, in addition to the legal consequences from an accident after alcohol consumption. The publisher refers to accidents at work or on the road during which personal injury or material damage is caused.

Doctors of legal medicine often have to act as experts when it comes to determining the influence of alcohol or drugs. For this work it would be desirable to have many years of experience in dealing with alcoholics or occasional drinkers. Therefore, drinking experiments have always been part of the training of a doctor of legal medicine, as well as playing an important role in legal practice. It would be wrong if the experience in the legal sense were to be considered sufficient for standardising the judgement of legal responsibility. However, this is often attempted. Too much schematism should be avoided with the so called per mille graduation.

Several thousand blood samples were taken from alcoholized drivers at the Blood Alcohol Examination Centre of the Institute of legal Medicine at Cologne University. These samples showed blood alcohol contents (BAC) as well as GGT, CDT, methanol, acetone and isopropanol levels which indicated alcohol addiction. The blood samples were selected by the drivers' ages and their BAC, but in some cases the GGT also played a role. In the majority of cases 1 or 2 parameters were measured. In 200 cases all four indicators were determined. The four parameters characterize a different problematic drinking behaviour. GGT characterizes chronic, long-term misuse, CDT characterizes occasional misuse, methanol characterizes current addicted drinking and acetone and isopropanol characterize metabolic disorders caused by alcohol. The importance of parameters is thoroughly discussed, also in relation to incorrectly measured positive values and the relation between alcohol consumption and -problems. Methanol values above 10 mg/kg, GGT activities above 100 U/l and CDT levels above 60 U/l provide sufficient proof of there being an alcohol problem which requires treatment. The levels of other indicators need not be above normal to determine this. The proportion of drivers under the influence of alcohol with problematic alcohol levels increases significantly when the BAC is above 2.0 per mille. However, there have been drivers with alcohol problems with lower BAC levels. DUI offenders addicted to alcohol are quite frequently over 40 years old. A correlation between the single indicators and the BAC is rarely found. If a correlation is to be found, it would be most likely with drivers whose BAC lies above 2.0 per mille. The mentioned indicators would detect an alcohol problem from the blood sample taken for the blood alcohol test. Alcohol problems may be detected and treated shortly after the DUI offence. This method is comparatively cheaper than medical-psychological-examinations as well as being based on objective and verifiable parameters.

A study of group comprising all road accidents caused by drivers of private cars who were under the influence of alcohol (BAC > = 0.3 g/kg; X = 1.56 +/- 0.62 g/kg) that occurred in a defined area over the span of one calendar year (n = 625) was compared with a randomly selected control group of 718 road accidents in which the drivers had not been under the influence of alcohol. The drivers in the study group were marginally younger than the ones in the control group. However, there was no evidence of an alcohol related increase in the risk of an accident associated with younger age. The sex ratio in the study group corresponded to that, generally found amongst people driving under the influence of alcohol. In the study group there was no evidence of a restricted manner and extent of car use, based on the distances between the sites of the accidents and the offenders' homes. However, the proportion of accidents occurring out of towns was greater in the study group. Alcohol associated accidents occurred more frequently in the evenings and at night, which reflects habitual drinking patterns. Therefore these accidents occurred mainly in darkness and twilight. Surprisingly, unfavorable weather conditions such as rain or ice did not lead to an increase in accidents due to alcohol. In fact, in the study group, proportionally fewer accidents occurred on icy roads. Both injury to persons and damage to property were more severe in the study group. While no relationship between accident severity and blood alcohol concentration could be proven within the study group, the risk of death or severe injury was 3 to 4 times greater in this group than in the control group.

The role played by alcohol in pyromania and arson was examined. We had a total of 103 arsonists, 95 of which were men and 8 women. 69 of the offenders had only started one fire, 34 had started more than one. 70 offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arson, 54 were alcoholics altogether. Adults were usually under the influence of alcohol, whereas adolescents were quite often not. Psychotics were generally not under the influence of alcohol. With regard to marital status, married arsonists showed the highest level of alcohol consumption. Offenders who started fires during the night were usually under the influence of alcohol, very drunk or even alcoholics. There were significant connections between the frequency and level of alcohol consumption and the number of previous convictions. Pyromania is classed as some form of psycho infantilism. In adults, it may be found in the form of an alcohol toxic regression in many different psychological disorders. However, it is found most commonly in unstable people with personality disorders.

1. In the course of 34 days the detectable methanol concentration in freshly squeezed grapefruit and organ juices as well as in grapefruit and orange juice mixes increased to a maximum level of approximately 600 mg/kg. This increase could already be detected at the beginning of the examination i.e. as early as 1 or 2 days after squeezing the fruit juices. At the beginning of the experiments the methanol concentrations were between 10 and 270 mg/kg. 2. After the consumption of pectin (40 g on one day and 2 x 40 g on two days) blood or serum-methanol values respectively were observed which were clearly above the level of chronic alcohol abuse (10 mg/kg). After the ingestion of ethanol (0.5 g/kg bodyweight) the serum-methanol concentration increased even further.