By Ken Thomas – AP
WASHINGTON — About 1 in 5 drivers who were killed last year in car crashes tested positive for drugs, raising concerns about the impact of drugs on auto safety, the government reported Tuesday.
Researchers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the new data underscored a growing problem of people driving with drugs in their systems. But they cautioned that it was not clear that drugs caused the crashes and more research was needed to determine how certain drugs can hinder a person’s ability to drive safely.
Drugs were reported in nearly 4,000 drivers who were killed in 2009, or 18 percent of the nearly 22,000 drivers killed last year. In 2005, drugs were found in the systems of 13 percent of the more than 27,000 drivers killed in car accidents.
Researchers said the numbers could be higher because only about 3 in 5 drivers who were killed in car crashes were tested for drugs after the crash and testing varied from state to state. Among all the drivers who were killed in 2009 and later tested by authorities for drugs, about one-third had drugs in their systems.
“Drugged driving is as inexcusable as drunk driving or driving irresponsibly,” said NHTSA administrator David Strickland.
I have always wondered why it is the policy of the state of California to track DUI arrests and convictions for alcohol but then lumps DUI stats for marijuana and all other psychoactive drugs and narcotics into single amalgamate group.
Since marijuana abuse is so prevalent one could make a reasonable guess as to how many marijuana DUI’s comprise the amalgamate group, but why doesn’t California just go ahead and report the amalgamate stats by at least the most commonly abused substances for non-alcohol DUI arrests and convictions?
Why does California do anything it does?
A good question and I wish I knew the answer