The Dangers of Drugged Driving
by
David M Clark on Jun. 19, 2013
Summary: With the passing of medical marijuana laws in many states, the issue of drugged driving is becoming more prevalent. Learn about the dangers of drugged driving and why the current testing system is insufficient in most instances.
It is very clear that drugged driving is illegal and dangerous. When one
is driving under the influence of drugs, it impairs the drivers' skills
by acting on the central nervous system as well as the brain. Drugged
driving is not allowed as it puts the driver, the passenger that he/she
is carrying as well as any other user of the road at risk.
In most States and countries around the globe, drugged driving is punishable by law and anyone who is caught with this act is mostly jailed, fined heavily and the driver's license is sometimes cancelled. There are various measures that have been put to curb this habit that mostly alcohol drinkers find them into. There are alcohol blowers that help the traffic officers to detect the amount of alcohol that has been consumed and to know if the level has been exceeded. Although the detectors do not automatically reveal that one cannot drive but it's an indicator that someone is drunk. These detectors do not measure the level of impairment.
The reason why drugged driving is illegal is because it affects the driving skills. Coordination is one of the major causes of accidents that drugged drivers fail to do. This is because when the nervous system is affected, the muscles that are acting on the acceleration, braking, steering wheel are manipulated and one cannot coordinate on the road.
Judgment and the reaction time are poor for a drugged driver. One of the affects of alcohol and other drugs is that there is decreased fear, inattention, risk taking behavior, anticipation, cognitive effects and loss of control that makes the risk of accidents at a higher level.
Attention and staying in line cannot be perfectly done by a drugged driver. It becomes a problem for a driver to keep in the correct distance as the measure of distance is affected and one is usually divided in thought as well as loss of focus. When a person is drunk, 90% of the information that is processed in the brain is what one sees. Thus it is very easy for one to be distracted by a very minor thing that ends up being dangerous. The adaptation of light and dark is hard for a drunken person. In case one was in the light and all over sudden the lights of the vehicle fails, this change cannot be quickly changed as compared to a person who is fresh.
Marijuana and driving- marijuana comes second as one of the most abused drug after alcohol. Thus it is good for people to understand why marijuana smoking and driving is categorized as illegal. The high producing element that is in marijuana (THC) affects parts of the brain that are concerned with balance, movement, balance, judgment as well as memory. There are studies that have shown that smoking marijuana affects the driver negatively in terms of attentiveness, ability to draw some attention as well as the perception of speed and time. The ability to obtain information from the past is also affected. That being said, it's important that states come up with a reliable system of measuring active THC in the system as opposed to just measuring overall THC levels. THC builds up over time and current measuring systems do not take this into account. Essentially, this means that you could be charged with drugged driving even if you have not consumed any marijuana in the last few days. For more information, visit our main site: The Clark Law Office - http://theclarklawoffice.com/medical-marijuana-attorneys/
In most States and countries around the globe, drugged driving is punishable by law and anyone who is caught with this act is mostly jailed, fined heavily and the driver's license is sometimes cancelled. There are various measures that have been put to curb this habit that mostly alcohol drinkers find them into. There are alcohol blowers that help the traffic officers to detect the amount of alcohol that has been consumed and to know if the level has been exceeded. Although the detectors do not automatically reveal that one cannot drive but it's an indicator that someone is drunk. These detectors do not measure the level of impairment.
The reason why drugged driving is illegal is because it affects the driving skills. Coordination is one of the major causes of accidents that drugged drivers fail to do. This is because when the nervous system is affected, the muscles that are acting on the acceleration, braking, steering wheel are manipulated and one cannot coordinate on the road.
Judgment and the reaction time are poor for a drugged driver. One of the affects of alcohol and other drugs is that there is decreased fear, inattention, risk taking behavior, anticipation, cognitive effects and loss of control that makes the risk of accidents at a higher level.
Attention and staying in line cannot be perfectly done by a drugged driver. It becomes a problem for a driver to keep in the correct distance as the measure of distance is affected and one is usually divided in thought as well as loss of focus. When a person is drunk, 90% of the information that is processed in the brain is what one sees. Thus it is very easy for one to be distracted by a very minor thing that ends up being dangerous. The adaptation of light and dark is hard for a drunken person. In case one was in the light and all over sudden the lights of the vehicle fails, this change cannot be quickly changed as compared to a person who is fresh.
Marijuana and driving- marijuana comes second as one of the most abused drug after alcohol. Thus it is good for people to understand why marijuana smoking and driving is categorized as illegal. The high producing element that is in marijuana (THC) affects parts of the brain that are concerned with balance, movement, balance, judgment as well as memory. There are studies that have shown that smoking marijuana affects the driver negatively in terms of attentiveness, ability to draw some attention as well as the perception of speed and time. The ability to obtain information from the past is also affected. That being said, it's important that states come up with a reliable system of measuring active THC in the system as opposed to just measuring overall THC levels. THC builds up over time and current measuring systems do not take this into account. Essentially, this means that you could be charged with drugged driving even if you have not consumed any marijuana in the last few days. For more information, visit our main site: The Clark Law Office - http://theclarklawoffice.com/medical-marijuana-attorneys/
