As the legislative season begins in most states, the country’s top highway safety officials have launched a campaign to urge state lawmakers to push for harsher laws against drugged driving. “Drugged driving” refers to drivers who are impaired by either prescription or illicit drugs.
“State and national data indicate that drugged driving is a growing problem that demands more attention,” said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association in a press release announcing the group’s new policy.
The group wants states to change statutes so that there are distinct sanctions for drug-impaired driving. Beyond that, highway safety advocates also want standardized procedures in labs to detect drugs that impair driving. The group also wants increased testing and reporting of fatally injured drivers in highway crashes.
The GHSA’s campaign began this fall in concert with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which held a summit on the issue in October.
Highway safety advocates say statistics paint a picture of a terrible problem on America’s roads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that drug use among drivers killed in crashes was at 18 percent in 2008.
It is not typical protocol to test the bodies of those fatally wounded in car crashes for drugs. But about a third of those tested in 2009 (often because of suspicion) came out positive, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The ONDCP’s recent report also indicated that crash victims often had different drugs in their bodies depending on their age. Younger fatally wounded drivers tended to test positive for marijuana and older victims had more narcotics and depressants in their systems.
The GHSA considers drugged driving to be a serious concern, but drug tests are not universally done in highway fatalities and the group wants that to change. Part of GHSA’s proposal is to provide training to prosecutors to help increase awareness of the results of drugged driving.
“As with drunk driving, a strong national-state partnership is necessary to make progress,” Harsha said in the release.
The GHSA’s new policy pushes for more research to be done in the testing equipment industry so that field tests can help catch drugged drivers early. The group also wants more research to be done to understand the scope of the drugged driving problem in the United States, the physical limitations created by different drugs and the effectiveness of strong laws meant to deter drugged driving.
As the GHSA pushes states to formulate strict drugged driving policies, a significant part of the approach is to get more district attorneys to prosecute more drivers for being impaired by illegal or prescription drugs.
Highway safety advocates hope more prosecutions will lead to more awareness even as news of people killed by drivers on drugs makes the headlines. A wrongful death attorney can help a family who is dealing with the aftermath of a drugged driving accident find out what went wrong and who is at fault.
Paul Greenberg is a Chicago wrongful death attorney and Chicago wrongful death lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.
