Marijuana affects psychomotor skills and cognitive functions critical to driving including vigilance, drowsiness, time and distance perception, reaction time, divided attention, lane tracking, coordination, and balance. Capler et al., 2017; Compton, 2017; Strand et al., 2016. GHSA Jennifer’s Messengers.
Both alcohol and marijuana’s THC can impair driving skills. The level of impairment depends, among other factors, on the amount of drug consumed by the driver. The average THC-impaired driver is less impaired and less dangerous than the average drunk driver, but only a few drivers are average. Drivers consuming high doses of either drug are the most dangerous to innocent victims. Someone on a high dose of marijuana will be more impaired than someone on a low dose of alcohol.
Multiple studies support the estimate that drivers double their vehicle crash after using marijuana, Hartman RL, Huestis MA. Cannabis effects on driving skills. IASIC. Those estimates are based on results of some highly impaired drivers as well as many who have either low levels of impairment or those who may test positive for THC but are not noticeably impaired. Crash risk may be increased by a factor of as much as 10 for drivers who are so impaired that they are convicted of driving under the influence due to THC only. Colorado convicts nearly 900 drivers annually of driving under the influence of THC only. Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol. Colorado Department of Criminal Justice, Jan. 2022.
Cannabis is the most prevalent illicit drug identified in impaired drivers. IASIC
Legalizing marijuana for recreational use does increase overall crash rates. IIHS-HLDI President David Harkey.
Marijuana was the most frequent drug found in drivers involved in fatal crashes in Massachusetts from 2013-2017, 31%. The Baker Administration, Boston Globe.
Crash rates spiked with the legalization of recreational marijuana use and retail sales in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Injury and fatal crash rates in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington jumped in the months following the relaxation of marijuana laws (with retail sales) in each state. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute study.
One of our country’s worst train crashes happeneed in Chase, MD, in 1987 when a Conrail train and an Amtrak passenger train collided. It was ultimately determined that the Conrail engineer and his brakeman were high on marijuana at the time and could not react quickly. Sixteen people on the Amtrak train died. Ricky Gates, the Conrail engineer said in an interview that cannabis was to blame for the crash.
Every year I share some piece of our twenty-year-old son Chris’ life and death with the readers of our AAIM book. Every year it’s hard to do, but it is important that he is not forgotten. It’s important to share the pain so that others might be sparedwhat we have gone through. We live every…
Isaac Bullard was arrested for the death of his son, who was about to celebrate his second birthday. He pled guilty to driving under the influence of drugs, vehicular homicide, child abuse, and careless driving causing death. Surveillance footage from a neighboring home showed Bullard and Jesse walking around the vehicle in the driveway. It then…
Neal Rajapa (17), Darian Ramnarine (18), Peter Kanhai (18), and Chris Kahn (18) were instantly killed when they were thrown from a car driven by their friend, Joseph Beer. He lost control of the car and skidded over 200 feet across three lanes of traffic. The car then left the road and hit a tree. …
Joseph Bresnyan, a 40-year-old father of four, was changing a flat tire along Interstate 80 near Sacramento on May 3, 2017. A passing motorist drifted onto the shoulder of the highway, struck him, and killed him. California Highway Patrol arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide. He tested positive…
On May 20, 2016, Peyton was riding her bicycle home with her stepfather, Cody Shetley. They were returning from an event at Fall River Elementary School, celebrating the end of second grade. In an intersection, she was struck and killed by a pickup truck. Longmont police suspected that 20-year-old man Kyle Couch, who struck and…
Cadence Boyer, was a second grader who lit up a room and was beloved by everyone who knew her. At 7, “Cadence loved to be in front of a camera, ride her bike and swim.” Washington voted to legalize marijuana in 2012, and cannabis shops opened to the public in summer 2014. That year…
Within seconds I stopped being a parent and mother. I lost my only child, Stephen Mager, on February 14, 1996. All of this happened during noon break on a school day. Stephen was a passenger in a car that was driven by his best friend. He was sitting in the back seat without his seat…
My first son, Chase, was a good kid. He was quiet, easygoing, funny, and an Eagle Scout. Chase was small but excelled at sports, pursuing football because of his great hand-eye coordination, speed, agility, endurance, and most of all, his desire to win. Chase was an above-average student until 10th grade. Chase’s grades started slipping,…
Tanya Guevarra, 25, and her 5-week-old son, Adrian, were driving to pick up a prescription in their hometown of Dacono, Colorado. Steven Ryan hit them head-on, killing Tanya instantly, but Adrian suffered several days before dying. As is typical after a fatal collision, four hours elapsed before a blood sample was taken from Ryan. The…
Aaron was an intelligent, handsome, articulate, and comical young man who was compassionate and forgiving. He was accepting, loving of everyone, quick-witted, and always joking around with family and friends. He was the life of the party. Aaron was in the Future Business Leaders of America organization as well as a college accounting program. Looking…