Personal Injury Law

Drunk Driving and Drugged Driving Car Accident Report - Testing Victims of Fatal Crashes by NHTSA

By Benjamin J. Sansone, Esq.

We have discussed in previous blogs (Missouri Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer gets Judgment) how a defendant found to be under the influence of alcohol can positively affect the outcome of a Missouri or Illinois auto injury claim. A new report has been released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on drug use by drivers involved fatal car accidents.

See NHTSA Report re: drugged driving fatal crashes and wrongful death from auto accidents. There are numerous published studies relating to contributing factors of alcohol to auto accidents, but before now, no studies on drug interactions were available. While this report is conducted only on fatal accidents, it proves that we need to be more aware of not only drunk drivers but also those that drive under the influence of drugs. In 2009, 21,798 drivers were killed in auto accidents. 13,750 of those were tested by the NHTSA for drug use. They found that 3,952 of these drivers killed in auto accidents, tested positive for some type of drug use at the time of the accident.

They went on to say that even though there is conclusive data showing a strong correlation between the levels of alcohol, how it impairs drivers and the impact of that on crashes, there is no such information for drugs yet. Gathering this information is the main purpose of the study. So far, over 6,000 police officers in 46 states have been trained to recognize driver who may be impaired by drugs ? not just alcohol.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Law Blog on December 17, 2010 (boomark / email).