Detecting and deterring drug-impaired driving
Pictou County District RCMP, in conjunction with the Province of Nova Scotia, will be emphasizing road safety throughout the remainder of 2018. During the month of December we will be focusing on impaired driving. With recent legalization of cannabis, here is some information about impaired driving by drug.
Drug-impaired driving
Drugs can impair your ability to drive safely and increase the risk of getting into a collision. In fact, cannabis increases your chance of a car accident. The percentage of Canadian drivers killed in vehicle crashes who test positive for drugs (40 per cent) now actually exceeds the numbers who test positive for alcohol (33 per cent).
Impaired driving is the leading criminal cause of death and injury in Canada, and drug-impaired driving is increasing.
Getting behind the wheel while impaired by drugs is not only dangerous, it’s against the law.
How cannabis affects your ability to drive
When you drive a vehicle, you need to be alert and focused. Consuming even small amounts of cannabis affects your ability to react and increases your chance of being in a crash. Drugs impair your ability to drive by:
■ affecting motor skills;
■ slowing reaction time;
■ impairing short term memory and concentration;
■ causing drivers to vary speed and to wander; and
■ reducing the ability to make decisions quickly or handle unexpected events
Information for parents
Young people continue to be the largest group of drivers who die in crashes and later test positive for alcohol or drugs, and yet only 11 per cent of parents surveyed said they had discussed the risks of driving under the influence with their teenagers. This dropped to four per cent when teens themselves were asked whether they had discussed impaired driving with their parents.
Start a conversation with your children about impaired driving. It could save lives.
Public opinion research on drug-impaired driving
Driving under the influence of drugs is a major contributor to fatal road crashes in Canada and young people continue to be the largest group of drivers who die in crashes and test positive for drugs.
The Government of Canada’s drug-impaired driving public awareness campaign communicates to Canadians the risks associated with driving under the influence of cannabis and other drugs. This campaign is informed by recent public opinion and qualitative research.
Public Safety Canada conducted research with Canadians on drugimpaired driving in 2017. A summary of the findings shows that:
■ 81 per cent know someone who has used cannabis and 56 per cent have consumed cannabis at some point in their lives
■ Among those who have used cannabis, 28 per cent reported they have operated a vehicle while under the influence
■ One in three Canadians report they have ridden in a vehicle operated by a driver who was under the effects of cannabis
■ Among those who have driven while impaired, 4 in 10 downplayed the risks by either indicating that driving while under the influence of cannabis is less dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol (25 per cent) or that driving while under the influence of cannabis poses no real risk (17 per cent)
■ 65 per cent agree that cannabis users often fail to realize that they are impaired from using cannabis, and 25 per cent believe that the impacts of cannabis consumption are less detrimental to driving ability than alcohol
■ 45 per cent of youth (aged 16 to 24) report using cannabis, with the majority reporting they used it in the past 12 months
■ 22 per cent of youth who have used cannabis said they drove while impaired and most said they did it because they don’t think it’s as dangerous as drunk driving
■ 1 in 3 youth have been a passenger with a cannabis impaired driver
■ 44 per cent of youth say it is easy to tell if someone is too high to drive
For more information on drug-impaired driving, go to the Government of Canada website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/policing/police/communitysafety-policing/impaired-driving/ drug-impaired-driving.html.