In their valuable study of fatally injured drivers involved in single-car crashes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.12180), Romano & Pollini state: ‘The prevalence of alcohol was significantly higher than drugs during night-time hours, regardless of the day of the week. This suggests that concerns about DUID should complement, not supplant, the current law enforcement focus on alcohol-impaired driving at night.’ Similarly, the paper’s abstract states: ‘Concerns about drug-impaired driving should not detract from the current law enforcement focus on alcohol-impaired driving.’ These statements frame the current challenges in substance-impaired driving as a zero sum contest pitting alcohol against drugs. This unfortunate frame has catastrophic consequences for efforts to improve highway safety. The reality is that both the use of alcohol and that of drugs create serious highway safety threats. (Author/publisher)
Abstract