Last year’s report is now out that proves positive that one in five drivers who were killed in accidents, tested positive for drugs. This then causes rise to the age old question, do drugs effect the ability for one to drive without being impaired? Researchers say the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new data shows a growing problem of people driving with drugs in their systems.
In 2009, drugs were reported in nearly 4,000 drivers killed last year or 18 percent of the nearly 22,000 drivers killed last year. Back in 2005 the number was less, 13% of 27,000 drivers killed. But this number could be even higher, because only about 3 in 5 drivers who were killed in car crashes were tested for drugs after the crash and testing varied from state to state.
“Drugged driving is as inexcusable as drunk driving or driving irresponsibly,” said NHTSA administrator David Strickland. My Northwest
The data did not allow them to know whether the influence of drugs caused the fatal crashes. And the tests took into account both legal and illegal drugs. This included heroin, methadone, morphine, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, LSD, prescription drugs and inhalants. It was unclear when the drivers had used the drugs prior to the fatal crashes.
Aspirin, nicotine, alcohol and drugs administered after the crash were excluded from the tests.
Many drugs can affect a driver’s judgment and reaction time but researchers are still trying to determine the level of drug use that can impair a driver’s ability to drive safely. A blood alcohol level of 0.08 is the legal limit for all 50 states but a similar level of impairment is uncertain for many drugs.
“It’s very clear that we’ve got a significant problem,” Kerlikowske said. “We’ve made great progress on alcohol-impaired driving through education and enforcement. There’s just no reason we won’t be able to make progress in this area once we start bringing it to people’s attention and we start doing the enforcement that’s needed.”
Kerlikowske said efforts against drugged driving could be helped by improved testing procedures and standards for detecting drug use by drivers, along with more police officers trained to detect drug use by motorists.
