Have you ever heard that there is a bright side and a dark side of every story? This is one of those stories.
A recent wave of random roadside checks shows some good news: Fewer Americans are driving while under the influence of alcohol. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, there is no significant decline in drug use among today’s drivers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) selected random drivers in 300 locations across the Unite States. They administered blood tests, breath tests, saliva tests and questionnaires to see if alcohol still plays a prominent role on today’s highways. The results were good in that the problem of drunk driving has decline a great deal since 1973 when about 7.5 percent of American drivers had a blood alcohol level of at least .08. The most recent test shows only about 2.2 percent of drivers are above the legal limit.
On the other hand, the survey showed that about 16.3 percent of nighttime drivers had drugs in their system. About 9 percent had marijuana in their system while about 4 percent had cocaine and another 4 percent had prescription drugs.
There is much more to this story and the results that the NHTSA found. Come back on Wednesday to learn more. Until then, be safe behind the wheel of your VW cars. Don’t drink and drive and don’t do drugs. Any type of unnatural influence when you are driving is unsafe and irresponsible.
