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 Impaired Driving
The principal concern regarding drugged driving is that driving under the influence of any drug that acts on the brain could impair one's motor skills, reaction time, and judgment. Drugged driving is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road (DrugFacts: Drugged Driving, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010).
Data for 2010 show that alcohol-impaired driving fatalities (fatalities in crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 grams per deciliter or greater) declined 4.9% from 10,759 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2009 to 10,228 such deaths in 2010. Alcohol-impaired fatalities represented 31% of the total driving fatalities in 2010 (2010 Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Revised 2012). Data from 2009 show that 3,952 fatally injured drivers tested positive for drug involvement. This number represents 18 percent of all fatally injured drivers and 33 percent of those with known drug test results in 2009 (Drug Involvement of Fatally Injured Drivers, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010).
The impaired driving problem is complex and requires the full range of countermeasures, such as involving the family in preventing underage drinking, creating a general deterrent with high-visibility law enforcement, and deploying impairment detection technologies in alcohol interlock devices (Impaired Driving Prevention Toolkit, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2003).
Since 1981, every President of the United States has demonstrated a commitment to preventing impaired driving by proclaiming December as National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month, and most recently, as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. In recognition of this observance and for use throughout the year, NCJRS presents this compilation of resources on impaired driving. Please select an option from the list below or from the section at the right under the heading "Impaired Driving" to learn more:
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