Narconon Fresh Start Informs the Public About Potential Increases in Drugged Driving Automotive Accident Fatalities
(PRWEB) January 05, 2015 -- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2013, 10,076 people in the U.S. were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes; an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 52 minutes. These alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 31 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities. The Institute for Behavioral Health suggests that drugged driving is a significant public health and public safety problem in the United States and abroad, as documented through a growing body of research. Amidst the research conducted in the US is the 2009 finding that up to 33% of fatally injured drivers with known drug test results were positive for drugs other than alcohol.
The problem of driving under the influence of alcohol has been well established, researched and promoted, but drugged driving has not always been so well documented. Therefore, the problem of drugged driving may not be fully understood by the public, which is why the [Institute for Behavioral Health’s White Paper on Drugged Driving recommends: An evaluation and improvement of impaired driving laws, evaluation and improvement of drugged driving data collection, improvement in drugged driving education, identification and evaluation of promising models for drugged driver identification, creation of standardized drugged driver testing, more drug impairment and behavioral research and more related drug treatment research.
The DRUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) Project released a report assessing the risk of driving with alcohol, illicit drugs, and medicines in various European countries. Overall, driving with alcohol and drugs produced between 2 and 200 times higher risk of serious of fatal injury than that of sober drivers.
Gerry Marshall, president of Narconon Fresh Start, states, “We need to create more awareness of the dangers of drugged driving with the media, law enforcement, the medical community, the educational system and the public at large. This problem affects us all and we often see the tragic consequences after it is too late. Legal deterrents are necessary, but more emphasis needs to be placed on education and treatment to prevent the fatalities caused by drugged driving.”
Narconon Fresh Start provides a drug prevention program and a unique drug rehabilitation program that has been shown to help ease the discomforts associated with drug withdrawal and teach the life skills necessary to maintain sobriety. For more information on recovery, or to learn more about drug addiction, please give them a call at 855-734-2223.
Clark Carr, Narconon International, http://www.narconon.org, +1 323-962-2404, [email protected]
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