Randomly selected drivers were stopped at times and places of previous fatal crashes in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Dade County (Miami), Florida. Breath, urnine, blood, and lip swab samples were requested, for later analysis for drugs and medications. A cooperation rate of 78% was achieved for most aspects of the survey, and slightly less for obtaining a blood sample. Overall, 1,029 urine samples and 840 blood samples were collected and analyzed. About 3% of the Lincoln drivers and 2% of the Dade County drivers evidenced one or more of the 41 drugs tested in the blood or at concentrations of 1 ug/ml or more in the urine. At least a trace amount was confirmed in about 4.3% of each driver group. Sedatives, particularly phenobarbital, were the most commonly found drugs. In addition to the drugs, marijuana traces were found on the lip swabs of 3% of the Lincoln drivers and 9% of the Dade County drivers. The living driver findings were compared with similar results from fatally injured drivers, obtained under a previous contract. The comparison indicates that users of drugs are about four times as likely to be fatally injured in a vehicular crash as nonusers. /Abstract from report summary page/
Study authors were S. William Berg, M.D., John T. Fryback, A.B.; Donald M. Goldenbaum, Ph.D.; Ralph K. Jones, B.S.; Kent B. Joscelyn, J.D.; Roger P. M...
Examines the current state of knowledge of drug-impaired driving. The review covers a broad range of related research, including the detection and mea...
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving a Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS)/National Transportation Library (NTL)
Web-based service.
Thank you for visiting.
You are about to access a non-government link outside of
the U.S. Department of Transportation's National
Transportation Library.
Please note: While links to Web sites outside of DOT are
offered for your convenience, when you exit DOT Web sites,
Federal privacy policy and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act (accessibility requirements) no longer apply. In
addition, DOT does not attest to the accuracy, relevance,
timeliness or completeness of information provided by linked
sites. Linking to a Web site does not constitute an
endorsement by DOT of the sponsors of the site or the
products presented on the site. For more information, please
view DOT's Web site linking policy.
To get back to the page you were previously viewing, click
your Cancel button.
United States Department of Transportation
[PDF-5.19 MB]
