• 28
  • June
    2011

Driver impairment is epidemic in Baton Rouge and across the country. Whether drivers are distracted by phones or driving with alcohol in their systems, drivers who are unable to drive safely are bound to cause injuries and even deaths. A recent study that examined drugged driving and drunk driving car accident fatalities found that a stunning 25 percent of the drivers involved in single-vehicle fatalities tested positive for drugs.

Of the drivers killed in single vehicle crashes, 37 percent had alcohol in their systems above the legal limit. There were 58 percent who had no alcohol in their systems, and 5 percent that had alcohol, but within the legal limit. The 24.9 percent who tested positive for drugs could have been in any of these high, low or no-alcohol groups.

The study also examined the interaction of drugs and alcohol in drivers' systems. What the researchers from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation found was that when both alcohol and drugs were present in a driver's system, the alcohol caused the most impairment. As one researcher put it, no matter what drugs are in the driver's system, the alcohol takes over when it comes to impairment.

Baton Rouge drunk driving accident attorneys have noted that the new study gives greater insight into the phenomenon of drugged driving. Drunk driving has been studied much more thoroughly, but information on drugged driving is much more limited.

The new study looked at 44,000 drivers who were killed in single-vehicle accidents between 1999 and 2009. Of the drivers with drugs in their systems, 22 percent were using stimulants, and another 22 percent were using marijuana. The next most popular drug was narcotics, found in 9 percent of the drugged drivers.

Source: USA Today "Drug use involved in 25% of fatal crashes, study finds" 6/23/2011