Daily Auto News Drunk Driving is Down, but Many Drivers are on Drugs
Daily Auto News
The good news? Drunk driving is down. The bad news? A surprising number of the drivers around you have their judgment compromised by other chemicals.
The New York Times reports, “Random roadside checks show that the percentage of people driving under the influence of alcohol appears to be declining, but many weekend drivers test positive for drug use.” A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study looked at “breath, saliva, blood samples and questionnaires taken from randomly selected drivers in 300 locations around the United States” to reach these conclusions.
ABC News notes that the study “found 16 percent of people randomly pulled over while driving on weekend nights tested positive for drugs.” Marijuana made up more than half of that total. Just under four percent of drivers tested positive for cocaine, and another four percent for prescription drugs known to compromise driving ability. The report, however, cautions that “drug presence does not necessarily imply impairment.” Some drugs, like Marijuana, “remain in the system for weeks after use,” so drivers may test positive for the substance even though its effects have worn off.
Still, there was good news. Autoblog notes, “just 2.2 percent of drivers have a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher,” a dramatic decrease from the highest numbers found, in 1973, when 7.5 percent of drivers were legally drunk.
The results could also lead to a new push to stop so-called “drugged driving.” In a press release explaining the results, the safety agency writes, “NHTSA is conducting further research to assess how drug traces correspond to driver impairment since some drugs can remain in the body for days or even weeks. Should further research indicate that drugs pose the same type of traffic safety risk as alcohol, NHTSA is committed to applying lessons learned in fighting the drunk driving problem.”
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