Drugged drivers in fatal car crashes increase by 86%

Study shows drivers across country in fatal automobile accidents used ‘multiple drugs concurrently’

We already have enough to worry about behind the wheel. As if drunk and distracted drivers weren’t big enough threats to motorists’ lives and welfare, people now have more to worry about: The increasing number of “drugged drivers.”

In a recent study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, researchers found:

The “percentage of drugged drivers with three or more drugs in their system [who were involved in “motor vehicle fatalities”] nearly doubled from 1993 to 2010, increasing from 11.5 percent to 21.5 percent,” according to the June 23, 2014, press release from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The study’s findings are consistent with the same trends of drugged drivers causing car accidents in Michigan.

Between 2002 and 2012, the involvement of drugged Michigan drivers in fatal and non-fatal auto crashes, based on data from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, increased as follows:

All crashes: 94% Increase
Fatal crashes: 86% Increase
Injury crashes (non-fatal): 89% Increase

Mixing drugs and alcohol behind the wheel

The University of Nebraska Medical Center study also noted that more drivers are using and abusing “drugs and alcohol together”:

• “About 70 percent of drivers who tested positive for cocaine had also been consuming alcohol.”
• “[A]lmost 55 percent of drivers who tested positive for cannabis also had alcohol in their systems.”

And the same is true for Michigan:

Between 2002 and 2012, the involvement of Michigan drivers who had been drinking and using drugs in fatal and non-fatal auto accident crashes, based on data from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, increased as follows:

All crashes: 54% Increase
Fatal crashes: 54% Increase
Injury crashes (non-fatal): 43% Increase

Related information:

Who is driving on drugs in Michigan?