Impaired driving: A case report. Pickup truck centerline crossover collision with medium-size bus on U.S. Highway 83, Concan, Texas, United States.

Conclusions: The failure of the truck driver to maintain control of his vehicle was due to impairment stemming from his use of marijuana in combination with misuse of a prescribed medication, clonazepam. Following the crash, the pickup driver was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Improved countermeasures including guidance and access to improved roadside testing methods, expanded law enforcement training to detect impaired drivers, enhanced enforcement regarding impairment by combinations of drugs or drugs and alcohol, as well an evaluation and implementation of data-driven strategies are needed to reduce fatalities, injuries, and crashes involving drivers impaired by alcohol and other drugs. The lap belts provided insufficient protection for the passengers seated in the rear of the bus aft of the intrusion zone; standard installation by vehicle manufacturers of lap-shoulder belts on medium-size as well as larger buses (now required) could mitigate the risk of injury in the event of a crash. PMID: 31663778 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Traffic Injury Prevention - Category: Accident Prevention Authors: Tags: Traffic Inj Prev Source Type: research