DRIVING DRUNK DOWN BUT DRIVING UNDER INFLUENCE OF POT IS WAY UP

A NHTSA study revealed that drivers under the influence of marijuana are more likely to be in a car crash

BarkGrowlBite | February 13, 2015

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just completed two extensive studies on driving under the influence of alcohol and pot.

The first study, which was voluntary and anonymous, rounded up data from drivers across the country who agreed to participate at a roadside test site. According to the NHTSA, the study found “about 8 percent of drivers had alcohol in their system on weekend nights. That's down by about 30 percent from the last survey, conducted in 2007, and 80 percent from the first survey in 1973.”

But there is no cause to celebrate because “the number of drivers with marijuana in their system jumped by nearly 50 percent compared to 2007.”

The second study was conducted over a 20-month period by examining accidents involving 3,000 drivers in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The NHTSA found that “drivers who use marijuana are more likely to be in a car crash.”

What has to be most alarming is that the first NHTSA study was conducted nationwide and the second study, although extensive, was conducted in Virginia. Neither study focused in on the states of Colorado and Washington, both of which have legalized the recreational use of pot. The Colorado Highway Patrol has reported a significant increase in the number of car crashes involving drivers who were smoking pot.

Just imagine what those marijuana numbers would have shown had the two studies focused in on the states of Colorado and Washington. Those pot percentages would have zoomed right off the charts.

All of this is very bad news for the innocent, non-drinking and non-pot using driver in Colorado and Washington who is now in greater danger of getting struck by some jerk driving under the influence of pot.

And they keep saying that smoking pot is harmless. Yeah, right. And pigs can fly.