Drive defensively: Experts say 11% to 14% of drivers tested positive for drug use. The driver next to you may be impaired @NHTSAgov

Drive defensively: Experts say 11% to 14% of drivers tested positive for drug use. The driver next to you may be impaired @NHTSAgov

Drive defensively: The driver next to you may be impaired. Experts say 11% of drivers tested positive for drug use during the daytime, and 14% during nighttime.


1. The value of defensive driving: The driver next to you may be impaired
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times / News from the health world, June 23, 2011

"Drunk or impaired drivers cause plenty of problems on the nation's roadways. And, according to the first study of its kind, a frightening number of drivers are not fit to drive. Researchers... set out to randomly sample drivers' sobriety... Among daytime drivers, 11% were positive for drug use based on saliva tests... In contrast, 14.4% of nighttime drivers tested positive for drugs... Alcohol was found more than any other drug, with marijuana coming in second...

(Click on the link below to read the article. Note: News media articles are provided for your convenience. The LASD does not endorse products or services):

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/23/news/la-heb-impaired-driving-20110623


2. Stoned driving is uncharted territory: Experts say they don't know what level of marijuana impairs a driver, but statistics show that fatal crashes involving drugged drivers have jumped. Law enforcement puts much of the blame on the growth of medical marijuana use.

By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2011

(Click on the link below to read the article. Note: News media articles are provided for your convenience. The LASD does not endorse products or services):

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pot-drivers-20110703,0,5540871,full.story