Kansas City Drunk or Drugged Driving Truck Accident Lawyers

Why is drunk or drugged driving dangerous?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2022, nearly 37 people die each day in America due to drunk driving accidents. All of these accidents are preventable - drivers should never drink and drive.

According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), in 2021, “13.5 million people aged 16 or older drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year, and 11.7 million drove under the influence of selected illicit drugs, including marijuana.”

The NHTSA report states that the blood alcohol content (BAC) level of a driver affects their driving as follows:

• .02. Drivers have some loss of judgment and altered moods. Their visual function begins to decline, and their ability to perform simultaneous tasks is reduced.
• .05. Drivers have less ability to focus their eyes, their judgment is impaired, they’re less alert, their coordination is reduced, they have less ability to track objects, their steering becomes difficult, and they have a “reduced response to emergency driving situations.”
• .08. Drivers lose muscle coordination, have poor reaction time and difficulty hearing, find it more difficult to detect danger, and have difficulty with reasoning, memory, speed control, and short-term memory.
• . Drivers have a “clear deterioration of reaction time and control, slurred speech, poor coordination, and slowed thinking.” They have difficulty staying in the same lane and braking properly.
• .15. Drivers may vomit, have a loss of balance, have difficulty paying attention, have substantial vehicle control impairment, and have difficulty processing auditory and visual information.

Unlike alcohol, there is not a specific breath test for drugs. The police will normally conduct a blood test to determine what type of drug was in a driver’s body. Many drivers who cause accidents due to drugs are also intoxicated.