According to a report today more than half of U.S. drivers killed in car accidents had drugs or alcohol in their system at the time of the crash. The report relied heavily on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The report also found that males driving at night were more likely to have drugs or alcohol in their system. The results appeared in the journal Addiction.
The report did not indicate the amount of drugs present in the subjects at the time of driving or whether the drugs actually resulted in impaired driving.
The researchers indicated that cut-off levels that reflect impairment through drugs at the time of the accident are not always clear and that research was ongoing to try to identify in drugs the point at which they are impairing.
“With alcohol, the amount of alcohol is more or less directly related to the level of behaviour impairment. The relationship of a drug in the body to behaviour of the driver is less direct and clear” said Robert Voas who studies alcohol and highway safety at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland. He was not part of the study.
This illustrates the need to critically examine any statistics coming from NHTSA as they can be misleading and yet can lead to a clamor for increased penalties in DUI cases.
Los Angeles DUI lawyers Gold & Witham have been defending DUI cases in Los Angeles based on drugs for a combined period of over thirty five years. If you have been arrested for a DUI based on drugs, please contact them at 562 938 7771.