DETROIT: The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board is calling on parents to teach their teenagers about the dangers of driving NTSB while being under marijuana influence as she considers a tragic occurrence in Oklahoma that took away six schoolgirls’ lives two years ago.
Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy made the appeal to parents Thursday as her agency released the final report on the March 22, 2022 collision between a tiny Chevrolet Spark hatchback and a gravel-hauling semi in the small town of Tishomingo.
The board’s investigation into the accident through its staff resulted in findings that indicated that it was caused by a teenager who braked at an intersection before accelerating through a stop sign. According to NTSB report, this happened because she may have been intoxicated due to cannabis use and was also distracted by having five teenage passengers in her vehicle.
Moreover, Homendy said that this problem with marijuana users transcends teenage group. Given that several states in America are now allowing recreation marijuana, both teens and adults tend to downplay its risks when driving.
She says, “There’s a perception that in states where it’s legal that it’s safe and legal to drive impaired on marijuana.”
NTSB study on the crash highlights many researches indicating how motor coordination can be affected by marijuana, reduce reaction time and impair judgment of time and distance which constitute critical functions when driving.
According to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are currently twenty-four states plus Washington DC where people aged 21 years old or more are allowed to smoke weed for fun. While Oklahoma does not permit recreational use; like most other states it has medical reasons for using it. Every state including DC prohibits any sort of impaired driving from smoking pot under any circumstance.
On Thursday, however, NTSB produced safety alert messages calling upon parents concerning what they should tell young drivers regarding how cannabis impairs operating vehicles as well as responsible options of avoiding driving when impaired or riding with impaired drivers.
Homendy said states that have legalized marijuana are behind in making sure people know that it’s illegal to drive under its influence. She claimed that over half of Americans live in a state where recreational cannabis is legal.
However, Homendy stated that unfortunately, the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana by some States came before any thought or action on what they would do about road safety. “They are far ahead on legalizing it, but very behind when it comes to traffic safety,” said Homendy.
She argued that States need more traffic safety data related to the effects of marijuana legalization as well as strict enforcement measures against driving while high on pot.
“Enforcement has got to be there in order to deter,’ she said.”
When Washington state enforced laws legalizing recreational marijuana use, their fatal crash records indicated more drivers involved with such accidents testing positive for pot after then, according to NTSB report.
Accordingly, six girls from a high school in Tishomingo were reported to have entered a car meant for four and went out during lunch period which is described by NTSB report.
At a crossroads, the driver decelerated to 1 mph (1.6 km/h), then picked up acceleration, failing to make a complete halt at a sign. Instead, she accelerated and turned past the gravel truck on left side. The truck driver stopped using the brakes and tried to avoid Spark but hit it at about 50 mph (80 kph) on its left side. All six teenagers died of multiple blunt force injuries.
The NTSB reported that tests done on blood samples found in the driver’s body put the THC content at 95.9 ng/ml. “If this level of THC is detected in blood collected from a living person, it suggests that there is a high likelihood that the person had used cannabis very recently, and therefore was likely still experiencing acute impairing cannabis effects,” according to the report.
Though body-cavity blood samples sometimes become polluted with other body fluids or tissue which contain significant amounts of THC such as lung tissue.
Moreover, vaping mouthpieces were discovered by Oklahoma Highway Patrol in addition to some marijuana buds inside the car where an accident occurred as revealed by report.
In conclusion, NTSB recommended in its report that Oklahoma State Department of Education should develop drug and alcohol abuse curriculum for local school districts regarding cannabis impaired driving. According to NTSB, currently only Massachusetts and Rhode Island have such course requirements.
Further more, the agency wants Governors Highway Safety Association, it’s members are state highway safety officers, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and National Association of State Boards of Education to be informed about Tishomingo crash ,and need for cannabis information in school and driver education coursework.
According to a statement released by safety association,cannabis-impaired driving is becoming an increasingly important safety issue, as state highway safety offices target total elimination of impaired driving.
“It’s impairing…” This woman said, ”…if you’re getting behind the wheel after eating or smoking or vaping marijuana, you’re taking a risk with your life and the lives of others.”
