5 ms·

It's legal where I live and the drivers on the road have not changed significantly. For those opposed to legal cannabis use, it's easy to blame any traffic infr

It's legal where I live and the drivers on the road have not changed significantly. For those opposed to legal cannabis use, it's easy to blame any traffic infraction on cannabis. I don't think we have data available that backs up that hypothesis. In areas where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use, the incidence of traffic accidents has remained the same. https://www.nber.org/papers/w24417 https://www.nber.org/papers/w24417

davidw 7y ago
Not opposed to legal cannabis at all, but as a cyclist, I'm very opposed to impaired driving whether it's booze, pot, or staring at a mobile phone.
- wolco 7y ago
  What about coffee, sugar or people driving with headaches? Those three can really affect my driving.
  - InitialLastName 7y ago
    Past that, if you've been awake for 18 hours, you're very likely to be impaired to the same extent as a 0.08 BAC.
    - davidw 7y ago
      Certainly. That's not a good reason to let people drive high or drunk though.
      - Phlarp 7y ago
        It would be a good reason to put effort into a "breath test for sleep" before other "breath test for X" methods / devices.
        johnisgood 7y ago
        It would be a good reason to test for actual impairment with a clearly defined set of behaviors or lack thereof that indicate impairment.
- cmiles74 7y ago
  I'm a cyclist as well and impairment via cell-phone or hands-free call has been the most threatening for myself personally. And every parking lot ever is liking gambling with my life.
  - davidw 7y ago
    I'd agree - but probably because it seems to be so common compared to drunk or high people.
- cmrdporcupine 7y ago
  I have to wonder about the combination of those two -- marijuana impairment + mobile phone (or, hell, the car stereo). In my experience cannabis just destroys my ability to context switch effectively. Other people, not so much. Electronics in the car are already a distraction, but I suspect far worse for someone impaired.
codingdave 7y ago
> I don't think we have data available that backs up that hypothesis. I think this is another key point in favor of this device. The traffic safety data that exists comes from police reports. Each officer has to key in the information when they handle an accident, so having a device like this in the hands of those officers is the first step in starting to build that kind of data set.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  That's great assuming the device is accurate, precise, and repeatable. It's not clear that breathalyzers can achieve these either but the legal system loves using them as a conviction tool. This could be yet another addition to their dowsing rod toolkit.
abraae 7y ago
> In areas where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use, the incidence of traffic accidents has remained the same. Perhaps that indicates an opportunity - if there was a way to check for stoned drivers, it might have gone down.
sigstoat 7y ago
there's plenty of literature proving that individual drivers are worse when they're high. check ramaekers' publications. maybe you can hypothesize some weird situation where individual drivers are worse, but overall traffic is unaffected. but individual users should still want to avoid driving high, as lower overall traffic deaths will not make you feel better about accidentally killing someone.

davidw 7y ago

Not opposed to legal cannabis at all, but as a cyclist, I'm very opposed to impaired driving whether it's booze, pot, or staring at a mobile phone.

wolco 7y ago
What about coffee, sugar or people driving with headaches? Those three can really affect my driving.
- InitialLastName 7y ago
  Past that, if you've been awake for 18 hours, you're very likely to be impaired to the same extent as a 0.08 BAC.
  - davidw 7y ago
    Certainly. That's not a good reason to let people drive high or drunk though.
    - Phlarp 7y ago
      It would be a good reason to put effort into a "breath test for sleep" before other "breath test for X" methods / devices.
      - johnisgood 7y ago
        It would be a good reason to test for actual impairment with a clearly defined set of behaviors or lack thereof that indicate impairment.
cmiles74 7y ago
I'm a cyclist as well and impairment via cell-phone or hands-free call has been the most threatening for myself personally. And every parking lot ever is liking gambling with my life.
- davidw 7y ago
  I'd agree - but probably because it seems to be so common compared to drunk or high people.
cmrdporcupine 7y ago
I have to wonder about the combination of those two -- marijuana impairment + mobile phone (or, hell, the car stereo). In my experience cannabis just destroys my ability to context switch effectively. Other people, not so much. Electronics in the car are already a distraction, but I suspect far worse for someone impaired.

codingdave 7y ago

> I don't think we have data available that backs up that hypothesis. I think this is another key point in favor of this device. The traffic safety data that exists comes from police reports. Each officer has to key in the information when they handle an accident, so having a device like this in the hands of those officers is the first step in starting to build that kind of data set.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
That's great assuming the device is accurate, precise, and repeatable. It's not clear that breathalyzers can achieve these either but the legal system loves using them as a conviction tool. This could be yet another addition to their dowsing rod toolkit.

abraae 7y ago

> In areas where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use, the incidence of traffic accidents has remained the same. Perhaps that indicates an opportunity - if there was a way to check for stoned drivers, it might have gone down.

sigstoat 7y ago

there's plenty of literature proving that individual drivers are worse when they're high. check ramaekers' publications. maybe you can hypothesize some weird situation where individual drivers are worse, but overall traffic is unaffected. but individual users should still want to avoid driving high, as lower overall traffic deaths will not make you feel better about accidentally killing someone.