Over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S. and an additional 2.35 million are left injured or disabled. Recent studies have shown that although drunk driving had been the leading cause for a majority of these accidents, drug-impaired driving has surpassed it by a large margin. Law enforcement officials across the U.S. are now scrambling to narrow down ways to identify “drugged” driving and determine how it can be stopped.
The Governors Highway Safety Association and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility reported that 43 percent of fatally injured drivers tested positive for drugs, while 38 percent tested positive for alcohol.
This study has marked the first time in U.S. history where drugged driving has surpassed drunk driving, according to Jim Hedlund, a former NHTSA official who wrote the initial report.
The reason for the rise in drugged driving occurrences is believed to involve police officers’ inability to spot drugged drivers as easily as those who are drunk.
“Officers need to know more than they do for alcohol how to suspect drug impairment, and know that it can exhibit itself in different ways,” Hedlund said in an interview. “Drug impairment has different signs and symptoms — think of the difference between uppers and downers.”
Although the effects certain drugs have on one’s ability to drive have long been debated, research shows that using marijuana can increase the likelihood of crashing by 22 to 36 percent.
To prevent such tragedies from occurring, the NHTSA report offers some possible solutions to begin fighting drugged driving. Prevention strategies written in the report include developing education campaigns to inform people of the dangers of impaired driving caused by all different kinds of substances, including prescription drugs.
The report also recognizes the difficulties with detecting the use of other kinds of drugs such as marijuana, which metabolizes in the system differently than alcohol.
However, there are certain ways officers can begin to evaluate whether a person is under the influence of other substances. According to the report, police officers can be trained to identify drug impairment through a 90-minute, 12-step evaluation.
Changes within law enforcement training curriculums to prevent drugged driving from occurring within the United States have yet to be finalized.