Marijuana Impacts Traffic Safety in Washington State
In 2012, when Washington state voters decided to legalize retail cannabis sales and recreational cannabis use for adults 21 years and older, they did not anticipate marijuana’s effects on driving. Since then, many institutions have questioned how legalization has impacted driver’s safety on the road.
Statistically, fatal crashes involving the use of marijuana have doubled in Washington after the state legalized the drug, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
In fact, a study done by the same foundation indicated that between 2005 and 2014, the proportion of DUI and collision cases that tested positive for THC (the chemical found in marijuana), excluding those positive for alcohol, increased significantly, from 20 percent to 30 percent. Among these cases, the prevalence of THC continued to grow after the legalization of marijuana in 2012.
Many Washington residents are now worried that marijuana-impaired drivers could pose a threat on the road.
“Drugs of any kind impair the decision making process and increase the likelihood of making bad decisions in general,” said Winston Ray, a small business owner who opposes recreational use and retail sales of marijuana.
Ray, who has a young son, believes legalization has made the roads especially dangerous for youth. “Teenage kids are not great drivers or decision makers to begin with,” he said. “Pot is just another impediment, especially now since it’s a lot easier to acquire.”
Studies done by the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission show that the effects of THC include a variety of diminishing driving performance effects that require additional driver effort to overcome. Major attributes affected include critical tracking, reaction time, balance and coordination, visual processing, and many more.
In addition, a large number of accidents and DUIs involve the use of marijuana supplemented with alcohol.
“We are noticing an issue where people are both drunk and high getting into higher speed collisions,” said Brian Salsig, a crime analyst with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“Individually, marijuana and alcohol can cause enough of a problem,” Salsig explained. “But when combined, they cause an even greater issue where people have a very hard time judging speed and are now very slow to respond to emergent situations.”
According to a youth survey done by the University of Washington, evidence suggests that it takes around three hours for the behavioral effects of consuming edible marijuana to dissipate. Almost half of the survey respondents who used marijuana during the previous 30 days reported that they had driven within three hours of use, and 16 percent “drove under the influence” six or more times.
Megan Akers, the owner of Full Circle Driving School in Battle Ground and a state certified driving instructor, said the increased availability of marijuana made her think twice while driving.
“Doing what I do for a living, I was fearful,” Akers said. “Because marijuana is now more accessible, I think things are a little bit worse than they were before, especially when it comes to driving.”
Because Akers is also a mother, she also fears for the safety of her daughter.
“It’s everywhere,” she said about the marijuana. “I have a teenage daughter, and we battle with her all the time. She’s eighteen and she thinks she can do anything.”
Another local mother, Whitney Norcup, sees risks but also an opportunity in the passage of Initiative-502, which legalized retail sales and recreational use.
“Marijuana provides similar impairments as alcohol, and driving should be restricted while under the influence,” said Norcup. “And I’m sure it has made the roads more dangerous, but now there is more awareness surrounding the impairments and safety of controlled substances.”
In the future, when her two children are old enough to become drivers, Norcup plans on working with them to become “a defensive driver and look for suspicious drivers that may be under the influence.”
“I see it as an opportunity to teach them about respecting a controlled substance,” said Norcup.
