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Drivers are considered to be alcohol-impaired when their blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) are .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, anyfatal traffic crash involving a driver with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher is considered to be an alcohol-impaired-driving crash, and fatalities occurring inthose crashes are considered to be alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities. The term […]
For more than 75 years, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has carried out various work to fulfill its mission of preventing traffic deaths and injuries by conducting research into their causes and by educating the public about strategies to prevent crashes and reduce injuries when they do occur. The work presented in this technical […]
Cannabis is the most widely used psychotropic substance surpassing alcohol use in 2022 in the United States. As with other impairing substances, evidence suggests that driving under the influence of cannabis is also associated with an increased risk of crashes, injuries, and fatalities. There is a paucity of evidence on strategies to impact driving after […]
With the recent liberalization of cannabis control laws, increasingly larger numbers of drivers are testing positive for cannabis. Research suggests many cannabis users believe driving under the influence of the drug is relatively safe. The purpose of this multiphase project was to understand cannabis users’ thoughts, perceptions, and reasons for driving under the influence of […]
This report reviews and assesses driver monitoring systems (DMS) and related technologies for alcoholimpairment detection and SAE International Level 2 partial driving automation systems. For the review oftechnologies to identify driver alcohol impairment, 331 technologies were reviewed. The systems were classifiedas physiology-based, tissue spectroscopy-based, camera-based, vehicle kinematics-based, hybrid, and patent-stage systems. A key focus was […]
Drivers are considered to be alcohol-impaired when their blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) are .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, any fatal traffic crash involving a driver with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher is considered to be an alcohol-impaired-driving crash, and fatalities occurring in those crashes are considered to be alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities. […]
This report was prepared in accordance with Section 25025 (Drug-Impaired Driving Data Collection) of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), Pub. L. 117-58. The report summarizes what is known about the collection of drug-impaired driving data and its reporting to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The report describes the FARS data collection process […]
Impaired driving continues to be a significant public health and public safety problem in the United States. In 2021 some 30 percent of the 42,915 traffic fatalities involved alcohol-impaired drivers (drivers with blood alcohol concentrations [BACs] of .08 grams per deciliter or higher). In addition, there has been a significant increase in drug-impaired driving and […]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has taken the first step toward making impaired-driving prevention technology standard in new passenger vehicles. The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that NHTSA is announcing today helps fulfill a requirement in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supports the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy. Read the full article here.
Every state in the U.S. has enacted alcohol-impaired driving laws, which prohibit driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) at or above a .08%. In 2017, the Utah Legislature passed HB155 “Driving Under the Influence and Public Safety Revisions” that changed the state’s illegal limit from .08 to .05 on December 30, 2018. Although alcohol-impaired […]