While the number of drivers having alcohol in their systems declined by nearly one-third since 2007, one in four drivers now say they’ve driven under the influence of at least one drug that could impair their safety — usually prescription drugs or marijuana.
That’s according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s latest Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers, conducted in Virginia Beach, Virginia, over a 20-month period from more than 3,000 drivers who were involved in crashes, along with a control group of 6,000 drivers who otherwise drove without incident.
The survey determined that the number of weekend nighttime drivers having drugs in their system increased from 16.3 percent in 2007 to 20 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of motorists having marijuana in their systems jumped by nearly 50 percent, assumedly due in large part to the growing number of states with full or partial legalization and relaxed enforcement of pot ownership laws in many areas.
— Jim Gorzelany
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