Published on February 26, 2012 at 5:10 PM
“Teens are faced with potentially destructive decisions every day and don’t always make the best ones,” said Dave Melton, a driving safety expert with Liberty Mutual Insurance and managing director of global safety. “It’s our job as mentors, parents, role models or friends to effectively communicate with them to ensure they are armed with the right information and aware of the dangers of marijuana and other substances, especially while driving.”
Another new study of 50,000 drivers found motorists who smoked marijuana within three hours of getting behind the wheel were twice as likely to have a car accident, compared to sober motorists. A separate study in October found that 30 percent of fatally injured drivers tested positive for drugs other than alcohol, with marijuana topping the list. An earlier study by Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa however, found that people who smoked pot 30 minutes before driving did not react much differently than they had before using marijuana.
NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, wrote its own report on stoned driving in 2011, which found driving high might be riskier than driving sober, but less risky than driving drunk.