Conservative estimates show that 20% of crashes in the U.S. are caused by drugged driving. This translates into about 8,600 deaths, 580,000 injuries and $33 billion in damages each year. In a national survey, drugs were present more than 7 times as frequently as alcohol among weekend nighttime drivers in the U.S., with 16% testing positive for drugs, compared to 2% testing at or above the legal limit for alcohol. Effective drugged driving prevention is one of the best ways to improve highway safety, to reduce illegal drug use and to get more drug abusers into addiction treatment. Learn more about the major problem of drugged driving and what can be done now to reduce this modern epidemic.

The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration's national study data confirms that drugged driving is significantly more widespread than drunk driving. Read the IBH Commentary and NHTSA Research Note. Click here for more information on drugged driving research.

Almost one-third of states have adopted the per se standard, which may be the single most effective policy tool for dealing with drugged drivers. Any detectable amount of a controlled substance in a driver's body fluids constitutes per se evidence of a violation or "drugged driving". Read more about the Per Se Standard.

Drugged driving is one of the key priorities of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. IBH identifies, develops, evaluates and promotes new ideas to prevent drug abuse. IBH President Robert L. DuPont, M.D., is the founding director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Read IBH's Public Policy on Drugged Driving.