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Testing reckless drivers for cocaine and marijuana
Journalof S&y Rcscad, VoL 26, No. 3, pp. 197-2021995 Copyright8 1995 NationalSafety cancil and Elsevim Scknce Ltd Printedin the USA. AU tight.9resemd 00224375/95 $9.50 + .OO
Pergamon
0022_4375(95)MO16-X
Abstracts Tkaffic Safety Testing Reckless Drivers for Cocaine and Marijuana. D. Bmoko& C. S. Cooke, C. W7Uiams, and C. S. Mann. The New England Journal of
found to be intoxicated with other drugs. Toxicologic testing at the scene is a practical means of identifying drivers under the influence of drugs and is a useful adjunct to standard behavioral sobriety testing.
Medicine, 331 (S), 518.
Driving under the influence of intoxicating drugs other than alcohol may be an important cause of traffic injuries. We used a rapid urine test to identify reckless drivers who were under the influence of cocaine or marijuana. Background.
Methods. We conducted a consecutive-sample study in Memphis, Tennessee, in the summer of 1993. Subjects arrested for reckless driving who were not apparently impaired by alcohol (did not have an odor of alcohol, tested negative on breath analysis, or both) were tested for cocaine and marijuana at the scene of the arrest. The results of the drug tests were compared with clinical evaluations of intoxication made at the scene by a police offtcer. Results. A total of 175 subjects were stopped for reckless driving, and 150 (86%) submitted urine samples for drug testing at the scene of the arrest. Eighty-eight of the 150 (59%) tested positive: 20 (13%) for cocaine, 50 (33%) for marijuana, and 18 (12%) for both drugs. Ninety-four of the 150 tested drivers .were clinically considered to be intoxicated, and 80 of them (85%) tested positive for cocaine or marijuana. The intoxicated drivers had a broad range of affects and appearances. Nearly half of the drivers intoxicated with cocaine performed normally on standard sobriety tests. Conclusions. Over half of the reckless drivers who were not intoxicated with alcohol were Fall 199SNolume 26LVumber3
characteristics of Drivers Not Using Seat Belts in a High Belt Use State. D. Reinfirt, A. E Williams, J. We&, and E. Rodgman. Insurance InMute for Highway Safety, September 1994.
A study was undertaken in North Carolina to determine the characteristics of the minority of drivers who were not using seat belts following an extensive publicity/enforcement campaign, which had increased statewide use to 80%. Vehicles and drivers whose seat belt use was observed at 49 sites were matched against Division of Motor Vehicles registration and driver history files for vehicle owners; data were available for 2,650 of the observed drivers, out of an original sample of 5,044 who were judged to be the owners of the observed vehicles. Nonuse of seat belts was associated with male gender; younger age (~35); older vehicles (pre-1985); vehicles other than cars, especially pickups; and poor driving records. Telephone survey information indicated that nonusers diBered from users; nonusers were less likely to have health care coverage, more likely to acknowledge having consumed large amounts of alcohol in the past year, and more likely to have an arrest tecotd. When asked about enforcement of the belt use law, many nonusers said that they would not respond to higher fines but they would respond to driver license points. To change the belt use behavior of this hardcore nonuser population, it may be necessary - as was done in Canada - to combine publicity/enforcement campaigns with driver license points as a penalty for nonuse. 197
Pergamon
0022_4375(95)MO16-X
Abstracts Tkaffic Safety Testing Reckless Drivers for Cocaine and Marijuana. D. Bmoko& C. S. Cooke, C. W7Uiams, and C. S. Mann. The New England Journal of
found to be intoxicated with other drugs. Toxicologic testing at the scene is a practical means of identifying drivers under the influence of drugs and is a useful adjunct to standard behavioral sobriety testing.
Medicine, 331 (S), 518.
Driving under the influence of intoxicating drugs other than alcohol may be an important cause of traffic injuries. We used a rapid urine test to identify reckless drivers who were under the influence of cocaine or marijuana. Background.
Methods. We conducted a consecutive-sample study in Memphis, Tennessee, in the summer of 1993. Subjects arrested for reckless driving who were not apparently impaired by alcohol (did not have an odor of alcohol, tested negative on breath analysis, or both) were tested for cocaine and marijuana at the scene of the arrest. The results of the drug tests were compared with clinical evaluations of intoxication made at the scene by a police offtcer. Results. A total of 175 subjects were stopped for reckless driving, and 150 (86%) submitted urine samples for drug testing at the scene of the arrest. Eighty-eight of the 150 (59%) tested positive: 20 (13%) for cocaine, 50 (33%) for marijuana, and 18 (12%) for both drugs. Ninety-four of the 150 tested drivers .were clinically considered to be intoxicated, and 80 of them (85%) tested positive for cocaine or marijuana. The intoxicated drivers had a broad range of affects and appearances. Nearly half of the drivers intoxicated with cocaine performed normally on standard sobriety tests. Conclusions. Over half of the reckless drivers who were not intoxicated with alcohol were Fall 199SNolume 26LVumber3
characteristics of Drivers Not Using Seat Belts in a High Belt Use State. D. Reinfirt, A. E Williams, J. We&, and E. Rodgman. Insurance InMute for Highway Safety, September 1994.
A study was undertaken in North Carolina to determine the characteristics of the minority of drivers who were not using seat belts following an extensive publicity/enforcement campaign, which had increased statewide use to 80%. Vehicles and drivers whose seat belt use was observed at 49 sites were matched against Division of Motor Vehicles registration and driver history files for vehicle owners; data were available for 2,650 of the observed drivers, out of an original sample of 5,044 who were judged to be the owners of the observed vehicles. Nonuse of seat belts was associated with male gender; younger age (~35); older vehicles (pre-1985); vehicles other than cars, especially pickups; and poor driving records. Telephone survey information indicated that nonusers diBered from users; nonusers were less likely to have health care coverage, more likely to acknowledge having consumed large amounts of alcohol in the past year, and more likely to have an arrest tecotd. When asked about enforcement of the belt use law, many nonusers said that they would not respond to higher fines but they would respond to driver license points. To change the belt use behavior of this hardcore nonuser population, it may be necessary - as was done in Canada - to combine publicity/enforcement campaigns with driver license points as a penalty for nonuse. 197