DRUG PRESENCE IN FATALLY INJURED TRUCK DRIVERS

This summary of a presentation made at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., in January 1991, examines a National Transportation Safety Board year-long study of 182 heavy-truck crashes in which the driver was fatally injured. The study found that 33% of the drivers tested positive for drugs of abuse. The most prevalent drugs found were marijuana and alcohol (13% each), followed by cocaine (9%), methamphetamines/amphetamines (7%), other stimulants (8%), and codeine and phencyclidine (PCP) (less than 1% each). Forty-one percent of those drivers positive for drugs of abuse were found to be multiple-drug users. Almost 11% tested positive for three or more drugs of abuse.