THE IMPAIRED DRIVER AND RIDER

A new roadside survey by the National Highway traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirms a continuing decline in the percentage of legally intoxicated drivers.

In 1973, 7.5 percent of the drivers had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.  In the latest survey, that figure had fallen to 2.2 percent.  A BAC of .08 or higher is now above the legal limit in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Previous roadside surveys conducted by NHTSA have measured only alcohol.  But the 2007 survey used new screening techniques that detected other substances as well and the future may help show the extent of drug impairment among drivers.

The survey found 16.3 percent of the nighttime weekend drivers were drug positive.  The study focused on weekend nighttime drivers and found that the drugs used most commonly by drivers were: marijuana (8.6 percent); cocaine (3.9 percent); and over-the-counter and prescription drugs (3.9 Percent).

At the last three sobriety checkpoints in Yavapai County, two out of three arrests for driving under the influence were for drugs.  The most common drugs used by these arrestees were methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription pain killers.

Alcohol still kills 13,000 people a year on our roads. 

Motorcycle riders were more than twice as likely as passenger vehicle drivers to be drunk (5.6 percent compared with 2.3 percent).

Check your medication to see if you should be riding or driving while taking it.  It only takes one drink to affect your judgment and affect your ability to ride safely.

If you are going to ride, don’t drink alcohol, if you are going to drink alcohol, don’t ride.