POT-DRIVING PANEL MEETS
But commission leaves victims out
The commission charged with helping prevent drivers from being stoned behind the wheel is set to meet for the first time today, but one safety advocate said there’s no seat at the table for crash victims.
“Unlike any other state, there is no voice for the victim. What Legislature forgot to put that group in the commission?” said Denise Valenti.
She said this morning’s opening session of the Special Commission on Operating Under the Influence and Impaired Driving has a tough task with legal weed going on sale in the state July 1.
The 13-member commission, a requirement of the state marijuana law, includes members of law enforcement, attorneys and doctors — not bicyclists or victims of impaired drivers. The meeting will be held at the Arlington Police Department.
Valenti, of Quincy’s Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving, which has come up with a pot eye-testing device, said some people high on pot registered as legally blind on eye exams.
“I think the commission has a lot to do in a short period of time,” Valenti said.
Data on fatal injuries in the state of Washington shows that pot-impaired drivers are six times more likely to kill others than alcohol-impaired drivers, according to Valenti.
“We can’t just hope and cross our fingers that people will be responsible,” said Chelsea police Chief Brian Kyes, president of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs Association. “There’s definitely a sense of urgency in terms of having the right tests in place to know how we’re going to test people to see if they are, in fact, impaired.”
Mary Maguire, an AAA Northeast Representative on the commission, said she has research that shows the percent of drivers in fatal crashes more than doubled in Washington state between 2013 and 2014 after recreational marijuana was legalized.
“We just want to make everybody aware that driving high is dangerous and not an option,” Maguire said. “The number of fatal crashes on our roadways is increasing across the country. It’s absolutely imperative we do everything we can to try to keep roadways safe.”
For years the number of traffic fatalities were trending downward, she added, but that is no longer the case.
“Drugged driving and distracted driving is a part of that trend,” Maguire said. “We’ll do everything we can to try to reverse that.”
Today’s commission topics include scientific, medical and technological forms of testing, civil liberties of the operator, evidence of impaired driving, burden on law enforcement as well as the current threshold for determining impairment.
The commission is expected to give their recommendations for legislation by the first of next year.