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Abstract: Until 2002 in Austria a blood sample could not be drawn due to regulations stipulated by the Austrian constitution. During the years 2003–2007 alcohol, pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs were analyzed in 1167 blood samples from cases of suspected and drugged drivers. In accordance with the findings of the EU-project Rosita, a wide variety of illicit drugs and medications could be found in blood samples of the drivers where cannabis (50%), opiates (20%), amphetamines (18%), cocaine (15%) and benzodiazepines (20%) were those with the highest prevalence. To enable police and medical officers to identify drivers under the influence of cannabis, a newly developed urinary road-site-test system, Check 24® (Protzek GmbH, Germany), with two different cut-off values for THCCOOH-glucuronide was used. So far, it was not possible to draw any conclusions from a cannabinoid positive urine sample to the actual influence of a driver due to the previous consumption of cannabis. Using this test a better differentiation between recent and temporal earlier consumption was possible. In addition to using the Check 24® system the technology of pupillography (AMTech GmbH, Germany) was applied in cases of drugged driving. For the first time the authors were able to predict the presence of at least one central nervous active substance in the blood of a drugged driver. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The rising popularity of Alpine skiing in recent years has led to an increase of skiing accidents, some with fatal outcome. In this paper, all fatal skiing accidents from the autopsy material of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Paris Lodron University Salzburg were evaluated and compared with statistical data of the Alpine Police. In the wintertime of 2005/2006 until 2013/2014, 22 deadly skiing accidents were autopsied. The age of the male and female victims ranged between 12 and 71 years. The main cause of death was craniocerebral and chest trauma. A relevant blood alcohol concentration was detected in only one case. Together with trauma-biomechanical and technical experts, forensic medicine serves as a necessary clarification interface between the investigating authorities and the judiciary. Determining the cause and manner of death as well as reconstructing the accident is the main task of the forensic pathologist. The present study shows that in the county of Salzburg, only a small percentage of fatal skiing accidents is evaluated from a forensic and trauma-biomechanical point of view. Thus the possibilities of an interdisciplinary accident analysis are not always fully utilized.