Excerpts:
"Marijuana is the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999."
According to this article, the researchers looked at crash statistics from six states that routinely perform toxicology tests on drivers involved in fatal car wrecks: California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. The data included more than 23,500 drivers who died within one hour of a crash between 1999 and 2010.
The incidence of alcohol involved in the traffic fatalities remained constant at about 40 percent throughout that period, but the role of drugs in fatal crashes increased considerably accounting for more than 28 percent of traffic fatalities in 2010, which was up from about 16 percent in 1999. The research indicated that marijuana is the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999.
The study’s authors pointed out that the combination of alcohol and drugs is often a deadly combination. “If a driver is under the influence of alcohol, their risk of a fatal crash is 13 times higher than the risk of the driver who is not under the influence of alcohol,” Li said. “But if the driver is under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana, their risk increases to 24 times that of a sober person.”
Written by Ankin Law Office LLC