While the evidence mounts that alcohol causes motor vehicle crashes, the evidence regarding drugs other than alcohol is less clear. Small scale crash studies have found varying degrees of drug use in serious and fatally injured drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored a study carried out by Calspan Corporation to determine the incidence of drugs in drivers in serious crashes nationwide, and to assess the role drugs play in crash causation. The study focused on fatally injured drivers who died within four hours of the crash. Blood specimens were collected from a sample of 1,882 fatally injured drivers from 13 sampling sites, encompassing three entire states (Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Wisconsin), and selected counties in California, Nevada, Texas, and Virginia. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting