IIHS Releases Study on Drugged Driving and Traffic Crashes

The Insurance Institute on Traffic Safety recently released a study entitled "Changes in Traffic Crash Rates After Legalization of Marijuana: Results by Crash Severity". The study found that states that legalized marijuana also experienced a rise in car crashes that injured or killed people.

In the five Western states with adult-use markets scrutinized, there was a 5.8 percent increase in injury crash rates, while fatal crash rates spiked by 4.1 percent. However, these rates varied by state, with some experiencing significant increases while others experienced decreases.

Last November, the Collision Industry Conference Governmental Committee, chaired by ASA Washington, D.C. Representative Bob Redding presented a panel on the dangers and difficulties with the rising issue of "drugged driving" in the United States. Law enforcement agencies in states that have legalized recreational marijuana have difficulty identifying and persecuting drivers due to a lack in real-time testing for drivers under the influence of drugs.

Read the full IIHS study here.