Data limitations prohibit exact numbers on how many people are killed annually due to drug-impaired driving. However, drugged driving is on the rise, especially as more and more states legalize marijuana, and it's a serious problem.
If you have been involved in a drug-impaired motor vehicle accident, call a car accident attorney now for a free consultation to determine your best legal recourse. You may be entitled to compensation for lost expenses and non-economic damages like psychological trauma, pain, and suffering.
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Table of Contents
- Why is Drug Impaired Driving a Problem?
- Who is Most Affected by Drug Impaired Driving?
- Substances Commonly Associated With Drug Impaired Driving
- How Often Does Drug Impaired Driving Cause Car Crashes?
- What To Do If A Drug Impaired Driver Hits You
- How a Car Accident Attorney Can Help After a Drug Impaired Driving Accident
- Call A Car Accident Attorney Today
What Constitutes Drug Impaired Driving?
Drug-impaired driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, whether they are legally or illegally obtained. Drugged driving is illegal in all 50 U.S. States and the District of Columbia.
Why is Drug Impaired Driving a Problem?
Taking drugs before driving impairs a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle safely, sometimes as much as drinking alcohol. Drugged driving puts the driver and passengers of the car and every other vehicle on the road in reprehensible danger.
Like alcohol-impaired drivers, drug-impaired drivers can't effectively evaluate how impaired they are, which is why a person taking substances shouldn't drive.
It's difficult to determine how drugs will affect a person's ability to drive because it largely depends on the type of drug, how much of the drug, and whether they've combined it with other substances, including alcohol.
Ways Drugs Can Impair Driving
There are several serious ways that drugs and alcohol can impair a person's driving ability, making them a dangerous liability on the road, including:
- Drowsiness
- Dizziness
- Slow coordination
- Reduced concentration
- Slow reaction time
- Impaired cognitive functioning (thinking and judgment)
- Blurred vision
- Interference with hand-eye coordination
- Lane weaving
- Aggressive driving
- Reckless driving
- Hallucinations
Even mild side effects associated with prescription drugs can cause a driver to become dangerous behind the wheel. People consuming drugs and alcohol are unsafe drivers who should not be on the road with you.
Drug-impaired driving notably increases the chances of being involved in a car accident. Data from the 2016 Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) report shows that 44 percent of drivers fatally injured (with known results) tested positive for drugs, a 28 percent increase from the previous decade.
More than 50 percent of these drivers had opioids, marijuana, or a combination of the two drugs in their system.
Who is Most Affected by Drug Impaired Driving?
Teenagers, college students, and older adults are most affected by drug-impaired driving and drug-related car crashes. Despite knowing the risks, millions of Americans drive impaired, resulting in around one million arrests annually for driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2020 report demonstrates the estimated number of U.S. residents ages 16 years and older driving under the influence:
- Alcohol: 18.5 Million Americans
- Marijuana: 11.7 Million Americans
- Illicit Drugs: 2.4 Million Americans
However, the arrests only account for a small percentage of the actual times impaired people are on the road with you. These numbers are only an estimated average because they represent the people caught. The exact numbers are presumed to be significantly higher.
Reasons Impaired Drivers Get Behind the Wheel
A National Library of Medicine (NIH) study examines drugged driving as a public health concern. After evaluating the prevalence and motives, participants gave these reasons for why they chose to drive impaired:
- Needed to go home (67 percent)
- Didn't think drugs affected their ability to drive (44 percent)
- Not needing to drive very far (33 percent)
- Not feeling high (32 percent)
Still, none of these excuses are valid reasons to operate a motor vehicle while drugged and will not hold up in a court of law. An attorney will build a strong case against the impaired drivers' negligence and wrongdoing.
Substances Commonly Associated With Drug Impaired Driving
Alcohol is the number one substance intoxicating drivers behind the wheel today. However, several other legal and illegal substances result in impaired driving on the country backroads, city streets, and highways around you, including:
- Marijuana: Marijuana is the number one substance, behind alcohol, responsible for driver-impairment accidents and arrests. It can reduce response times and slow reaction, judgment, and distance.
- Opioids: Prescription painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycontin, and Fentanyl all include warnings not to operate a motor vehicle—opioids like prescription meds and heroin cause drowsiness, sedation, vertigo, and slow response times.
- Stimulants: Drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines speed up the body and may induce erratic, aggressive, and reckless driving like speeding. People taking methamphetamines may also be sleep-deprived, which is also a danger while driving.
- Antidepressants: Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) like nortriptyline or amitriptyline are associated with a 41 percent increased risk of car accidents. They may cause dizziness, sedation, blurred vision, double vision, tremors, and rapid heartbeat.
- Inhalants: Volatile substances found in everyday household products that produce chemical vapors people inhale to induce psychoactive or mind-altering effects. Inhalants can affect your vision, coordination, and reaction times.
- Psychedelics: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as acid, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms, alters perception and cognitive processes. Psychedelics have unpredictable effects, including hallucinations, blurred vision, reduced coordination, and confused thinking. Ecstasy, or MDMA, also can have hallucinogenic effects.
- Over-The-Counter Cold and Allergy Medicines: Many OTC cough, cold, flu, and allergy medications cause drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, and impaired judgment.
- Depressants: Barbiturates like sleep aids and seizure meds cause drowsiness and sedation. Benzodiazepines, or benzos, like Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin, slow down the central nervous system and brain activity, causing drowsiness, sedation, and decreased concentration. Research shows that benzodiazepines increase the risk of traffic accidents by 60 to 80 percent while increasing accident liability by 40 percent.
Polydrug use (using two or more legal or illegal substances together) is hazardous and can increase the risk of accidents and injury. If you know or suspect the at-fault driver in your car accident was drug-impaired, contact an attorney now to get the justice and compensation you may be entitled to.
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How Often Does Drug Impaired Driving Cause Car Crashes?
It's challenging to calculate exactly how many car accidents are caused by drugged driving. Some reasons drug impaired-driving crash percentages are difficult to gauge accurately include:
- Lack of Proper Testing: A practical roadside test to detect drug levels in the body has yet to be developed.
- Insufficient Evidence: Police don't test for drugs when drivers have a blood alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit because they have enough evidence for a DUI charge.
- Complicated Timelines: Drugs like marijuana and benzodiazepines can stay in your system for weeks after use, making it tricky to pin down when the driver took the drug and if it was responsible for impaired driving.
Many drivers have multiple drugs and/or alcohol in their system, making it difficult to determine which substance had the most significant effect on the driver and subsequent accident.
What To Do If A Drug Impaired Driver Hits You
After the initial shock and adrenaline rush wear off, there are several considerations to take when a drug-impaired driver hits you. Here are your five critical next steps:
Seek Medical Care
After being involved in a drug-impaired car accident, your number one priority should be your health and recovery. A complete medical evaluation is highly advised, even if you don't believe you suffered an injury.
Some injuries may have delayed symptoms that don't hit you at full impact for hours or even days later. Leaving them untreated can lead to a worsening of symptoms and long-term complications. Let your doctor know of any symptoms you're experiencing after the accident, regardless of how trivial they may appear.
Follow Your Doctors' Orders
If your doctor restricts your activities, such as limiting how much you can lift or the hours you can work, follow their orders. If you prioritize doing what you want or deem necessary over doing what they instruct you for optimal recovery, you risk worsening injury or prolonging healing time.
Hire a Skilled Car Accident Attorney
The legal system is complicated and can be difficult to navigate while maintaining your health and recovery. Hire an experienced lawyer to eliminate those challenges while providing insight and reassurance about your case.
Don't Talk to the Insurance Companies
After the accident, the at-fault driver's insurance company will call you pretty close to immediately following. Insurers will ask about your accident and injuries and may propose that you give a recorded statement.
The recording aims to find ways to limit or deny the company's liability for your accident. The best way to avoid saying anything the insurance company may twist to delay or deny your claim is to let the adjuster know that you are legally represented and cannot discuss the accident or your injuries. Refer them to your car accident attorney.
If you do not have an attorney and have already given the at-fault party's insurance company a recorded statement, contact a car accident lawyer to determine your next steps.
Document Your Recovery
Keep an accident journal documenting your recovery. Include things like drive times to and from medical appointments, levels of pain and suffering, changes in the ability to do everyday things, restrictions on activities, loss of enjoyment of life, and anything else that can help your car accident attorney secure a substantial settlement for the full scope of your injury.
How a Car Accident Attorney Can Help After a Drug Impaired Driving Accident
The attorney's job is to make the entire process from being hit by a drug-impaired driver to settling with their insurer as painless as possible while ensuring your legal rights are protected and you receive reasonable compensation.
Investigate Your Case
Your lawyer will investigate your case using various methods to determine fault and liability. For example:
- Interview witnesses
- Review police reports
- Gather evidence, including photos and video footage of the accident
- Reconstruct the accident scene
- Analyze the physical evidence like skid marks, vehicle damage, and visual media
To determine fault and liability, your car accident attorney will also consider other factors, such as medical reports, road conditions, and traffic laws.
Communicate With Insurance Adjusters
A car accident lawyer communicates with insurance adjusters about your case, so you don't have to. Once you obtain legal representation, the insurance company cannot further discuss the accident or your injuries with you. That means they won't pressure you to settle too soon or have you accept a lowball offer considerably less than what you're entitled to.
Determine Your Damages
A lawyer will determine your damages. If you've suffered a minor, significant, or permanent injury in a car accident caused by a drug-impaired driver, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Some recoverable damages include:
- Medical Costs: Recover financial losses for all medical bills, including ER visits, hospital stays, primary care appointments, surgeries, specialist appointments, medications, medical equipment, etc.
- Property Damage: Pursue damages for your vehicle and other personal property damaged or destroyed in the drug-impaired accident.
- Lost Income: Recover restitution for lost earnings, salary, benefits, promotions, bonuses, and opportunities lost due to the accident.
- Pain and Suffering: Seek financial compensation for physical pain and the psychological impacts of mental anguish and emotional distress the impaired driver's negligence has caused.
After determining losses, your skilled attorney will calculate damages and begin negotiations with the at-fault driver's insurance company.
Negotiate Your Settlement
When you reach the negotiation stage, you can take comfort in knowing your attorney is a confident negotiator. They are aware of tactics insurance companies use to attempt to delay or deny a claim and are equipped to prevent that outcome. Your chances of receiving fair or favorable restitution are better with legal representation.
Litigate Your Case in Court
While most personal injury cases don't go to trial, some do. Your lawyer will litigate your case if your attorney and insurer can't reach a settlement agreement. Having a knowledgeable law professional with relationships in the system may prove beneficial.
Work on Contingency
Because car accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, they only get paid if you do. Seeking a free consultation to access their legal insight into your case costs you nothing.
Before you sign the contract and hire the law firm, the attorney will disclose the percentage they take for costs and fees from final compensation. Not having any out-of-pocket expenses alleviates the added financial burden of the accident.
Call A Car Accident Attorney Today
Don't face the challenges of a car accident claim alone. Contact to our skilled personal injury lawyers today for your free consultation.
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Gabriel Levin - Attorney
Gabriel Levin is a highly experienced and credible attorney with over 10 years of practice in Pennsylvania. Known for his tenacity, he has represented clients in a wide range of civil matters, trying hundreds of cases. He prepares each case as if it will go to trial, ensuring meticulous attention to detail.
Unlike many firms that delegate tasks, Levin personally handles every aspect of a case and maintains open communication with clients throughout. He has secured millions in compensation, making him a reliable choice for those seeking legal representation.
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