DRUG ARRESTS AND DRIVING RISK

This study compared the driving records of 106,214 persons arrested for drug offenses in 1989 with 41,493 drivers from the general driving population. The drug arrestees were categorized according to the six summary offense classes used by the California Department of Justice, which were felony narcotics, marijuana, dangerous drugs, and other drugs, and misdemeanor marijuana and other drugs. Timeframes studied were 1-year pre-arrest, 1-year post-arrest, and 2-years post-arrest. Each drug arrestee group had significantly more traffic violations and total accidents than the control group, except for 2-year post-arrest accidents for the felony narcotics group. Measures of accident culpability revealed that drug arrestees were more apt to be responsible for the accidents in which they were involved than was the general driving population. Individuals arrested for drug offenses clearly pose an elevated traffic safety risk.

• Corporate Authors:

  Brain Information Service

  Brain Research Institute University of California
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90024-1746
• Authors:
  • Marowitz, L
• Publication Date: 1995-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-22
• Serial:
  • ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND DRIVING
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue Number: 1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Arrests; Control groups; Driver records; Drug abuse; Risk assessment; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Drug traffic
• Old TRIS Terms: Accident risks
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00714610
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 12 1995 12:00AM