Motorists worried about drugged driving

Campaign to raise awareness about dangers of smoking pot and driving well underway

A recent survey taken by CAA Niagara shows that 75 per cent of its respondents have concerns about how legal cannabis will impact road safety in the region but there isn’t much data available to determine if those results are skewed by the personal and political views of those who participated.

Conducted in the spring, 500 local card holders with the automotive organization were questioned and 44 per cent are “extremely concerned” with how marijuana legalization will affect roadways, while 31 per cent are “somewhat concerned.”

The remaining 25 per cent indicated that users driving high will not be a threat to the public.

“There’s still a portion who responded that are not concerned,” said CAA Niagara president and chief executive officer Peter Hezewyk in an interview.

Asked if it’s possible that some of the questionnaire’s participants may have reflected preconceived opinions about cannabis without any first-hand experience with the soon-to-be-legal vice, Hezewyk said that would be difficult to filter out in the results.

“From what I understand, it was across a good representation of our membership base,” he said.

One in two households in Niagara is registered with CAA, but how old the individuals who responded to the survey are is also not 100 per cent clear.

“We have members from the age of 18 all the way to their 70s and 80s,” he said.

The study also shows that 64 per cent of the respondents feel that they are less concerned about people drinking alcohol and driving than they were three years ago.

Driving under the influence of alcohol remains a major concern, but as legalization lingers less than two months away, a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of operating a vehicle under the effects of cannabis is well underway.

“We’ll be better off and hopefully it will take less time for folks to figure out that driving impaired is driving high,” he said, also noting there is a “growing concern” about people mixing booze and weed at the same time.

Consumers who are new to the world of marijuana are also a target of the campaign, as they could be debilitated after a few puffs more than those who have been rolling joints for many years.

“There might be a perspective out there from users who have been doing it for many years that they can still drive safely,” said Hezewyk.

“The effect on recreational first-time users could be very different,” he added.

Cannabis affects the ability to think and drive for much longer than just a few hours, says Dr. Andrea Feller, the Region’s public health associate medical officer of health.

“The impact of driving after consuming or smoking cannabis cannot be overstated – driving high is a gamble, with no chance for hitting the jackpot,” she said.

Niagara police are getting ready for legalization with a focus on education, as well as standard field sobriety testing.

“We recognize that drug impaired driving is on the rise and is a major contributor to fatal road collisions. Whether drugs are smoked, inhaled, or ingested, drugs will affect your motor skills, slow your reaction time, decrease your ability to concentrate, affect your ability to make decisions and deal with unexpected hazards. Drug impaired driving is illegal and will not be tolerated,” said Bryan MacCulloch, chief of the Niagara Regional Police.

CAA Niagara’s goal is to curb all forms of impaired driving and clear any public misconceptions about the effects of mixing driving and cannabis. In partnership with Aapex Driving Academy, Niagara Region Public Health and the Regional Niagara Road Safety Committee, events will be hosted throughout the region leading up the Oct. 17 legalization date.