Drugged Driving

The Governor’s Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) recently released a “state’s guide” to drugged driving report prepared by Dr. James Hedlund. The report gleams data from the last 20 years and seeks to provide states with action items they can take to address the risiing issue of drugged driving. The GHSA assembled an panel of experts that included state officials, researchers and national organizations that guided the project.

AtHandTraining took a look at the report to draw out some of the more relevant information that workplace safety managers might find interesting. You can check out the entire 51 page report here however here are some highlights below:

Fatal Injuries

• NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) reported that drugs were present in 40% of the fatally-injured drivers with a known test result, almost the same level as alcohol.
• NHTSA’s 2013–2014 roadside survey found drugs in 22% of all drivers both on weekend nights and on weekday days
• In 2013, 62.6 of fatally injured drivers were tested for drugs. 30.3% tested positive for a drug on their “FARS List (Fatality Analysis Reporting System – a list of some 430 drugs)”…of that 30.3% . 34.7 tested positive for marijuana in some form – about the same level of alcohol. 9.7 tested positive for amphetamines.

Road Side Survey

• In 2013-14, NHTSA conducted a roadside survey of drivers during weekday days and weekend nights
• Other stats:

• 44% of the drivers (Washington 2014) reported that they had driven within two hours of using marijuana

Drug & Alcohol Use in the Population

Marijuana and Driving

• In experimental settings, marijuana impairs psychomotor skills and cognitive functions associated with driving, including vigilance, time and distance perception, lane tracking, motor coordination, divided attention tasks, and reaction time. (1)
•  Drivers may attempt to compensate by driving more slowly and increasing their following distance (2)

(1) (Compton and Berning, 2015; Hartman and Huestis, 2013; Kelly-Baker, 2014).

(2) (Hartman and Huestis, 2013)

Drug Use and Accident Risk Levels