Drivers who are on the roads must be fully prepared to drive. This means that they must be sober and alert. Many people think about drunk driving as one of the most serious issues on the road. Drugged driving is also a serious problem that can’t be ignored.
Drugged driving is similar to drunk driving in that drugs can impact a driver’s ability to react to situations that occur on the road. These impacts can even cause the driver to be unable to navigate in a normal manner.
All types of drugs and medications can cause issues
It is easy to let your mind turn toward illegal drugs when you are thinking about drugged driving, but these aren’t the only types of drugs that can lead to your being in serious legal hot water. Over-the-counter and prescription drugs can lead to negative impacts on a driver’s abilities.
Any medication or drug that affects cognitive, physical or mental abilities can lead to drugged driving. Antihistamines and narcotic medications are two types that can lead to these effects on driving.
Even drugs that some people consider safe, such as marijuana, can lead to impaired driving. Marijuana has been shown to lead to poor reaction time and other driving difficulties.
Effects of drugged driving
A driver who is under the influence of drugs can put himself or herself and everyone else on the roadway in danger. The unsafe driving can cause accidents that injure or kill innocent people. These accidents are tragic in every case since they are preventable. Accidents that occur at higher speeds can even more tragic due to increased severity of injury as well as death.
Prevalence of drugged driving
The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that a whopping 10 million respondents who were 12 years old or older reported that they drove after using illicit drugs in the year before the survey. People who are 18 to 25 years old are more likely to drive while impaired than any other age group.
Even though people do admit to using drugs before driving, it is unknown how many accidents each year are attributed to drugged driving. This is because testing for drugged driving isn’t nearly as accurate as testing for drunk driving. The amount of time that drugs remain in the system is usually greater than the amount of time that the drug will cause impairment.
For the victims of drugged driving crashes, medical care and major life upheaval is likely. These individuals might opt to seek compensation for the crash.