Americans are all-too familiar with the terrible consequences of drunk driving. We also are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of driving with distractions such as text messaging or talking on a cell phone. It is well known that drugs, even those prescribed by a physician, can impair perception, judgment, motor skills, and memory.
Recent surveys have shown how pervasive drugged driving has become in the United States. Drugged driving refers to operating a vehicle with a measureable quantity of an illegal drug in the driver’s body.
Drugged driving poses threats to public safety, as evidenced by the number of fatal crashes each year on our Nation’s highways. Drugged driving is a significant public health and public safety problem in the United States as documented through a growing body of research. Among the research conducted in the US is the 2009 finding that 33% of fatally injured drivers with known drug test results were positive for drugs other than alcohol. Among randomly stopped weekend nighttime drivers who provided oral fluid and/or blood specimens in 2007, 16.3% were positive for drugs. These and other emerging data demonstrate the US has lagged behind other nations in both drugged driving research and enforcement.
The National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers, a nationally representative survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found that in 2007, approximately one in eight weekend, nighttime drivers tested positive for illicit drugs. Moreover, approximately one in eight high school seniors responding to the 2010 Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) reported driving after smoking marijuana within two weeks prior to the survey interview. These results highlight the scope of drugged driving in America and reinforce the importance of reducing all drug abuse.
Drug Testing and Drug-Involved Driving of Fatally Injured Drivers in the United States: 2005-2009
An Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) analysis of 2009 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) census, which shows that roughly one in four (23 percent) of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for drugs were under the age of 25. Additionally, based on data from 2005 to 2009, almost half (42 percent) of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana were under the age of 25.
Drug Involvement of Fatally Injured Drivers (a 2010 NHTSA fact sheet)
The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes in the United States, contains a number of variables to describe drug involvement for those in fatal crashes. Overall, 3,952 fatally injured drivers tested positive for drug involvement in 2009.
