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Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

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Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#241

Post by apothegm »

beAbU wrote: post #213
carlmr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it turns out that they got dozens of speed camera tickets per year To me the answer is quite simple for any of these. Treat repeated small infractions like bigger and bigger infractions. E.g. double the cost every iteration if it happens within a specific time frame. Ok, you speed once? $100. Twice $200. Thrice $400. And so on. We only reset if you don’t reoffend for any speeding in 5 years. If you want to speed 20…

Some countries have a points system, where every infraction gets points in addition to the fine. At a certain amount of points you lose your license. Pretty effective dissuade serial petty infringers!

Most US states do, too. But people will drive without a license because it’s the only way to get to anywhere in most of the country. And I suspect we’re light on enforcement for the same reason.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#242

Post by dang »

Youden wrote: post #114
tokai wrote: post #13

An issue with having the legal limit at ~2-5ng/ml is that it makes habitual users be over the limit if they have smoked recently or not.[0] Making the prohibition seem unserious to some, not about safety but about punitive control, and in turn making it matter less if you smoke and drive as you are taking the risk of getting into trouble in any case. The impairments of driving under the influence of alcohol have been…

There was a larger discussion in a previous thread on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45494730 Since then, [0] has been published and I think it's worth at least a skim. Since it's quite recent the introduction summarizes some of the most recent research. The things that jump out at me are: - [0]: Habitual users with baseline concentrations above legal limits perform just as well as habitual users wi…

Thanks! Macroexpanded:

Nearly half of drivers killed in (Ohio County) crashes had THC in their blood - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45494730 - Oct 2025 (125 comments)

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#243

Post by randerson »

littlestymaar wrote: post #228
spamizbad wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I feel like the United States could dramatically improve its road safety if it kept maybe 1-3% of its drivers off the road permanently.

The problem is how do you enforce that though. The modern world is so cat centric people would rather drive without a license than accept to live without a car. And until you can reliably catch and jail license-less drivers, the bet is worth it for them.

If they were to catch and jail just 1% of license-less drivers, in a visible way, it would be a deterrent to the other 99%. But the rate of being caught & punished is negligible (at least in the states I've lived in) so people know they'll get away with it.

I previously lived in a country where the cops set up random roadblocks to check everyone's license & registration and look for signs of intoxication. When there's a real risk of waking up in a jail cell you're less likely to order that third beer. But in the US when renewing my tabs I feel like the joke's on me because half the cars here seem to have expired tabs or illegal plates and nobody ever checks.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#244

Post by graeme »

bookofjoe wrote: post #227
seizethecheese wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in this study 40% of people had very high THC concentrations. Is it even remotely plausible this is the baseline population level?

DEAD people

If the population of dead drivers with over the limit THC is 40%, and this dramatically exceeds the population average, that would strongly suggest the THC level IS an indicator of either:

1. Impairment from THC, or

2. Worse than average driving and risk management skills in those who use the drug

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#245

Post by jeremyjh »

bookofjoe wrote: post #227
seizethecheese wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in this study 40% of people had very high THC concentrations. Is it even remotely plausible this is the baseline population level?

DEAD people

Doesn't that support the hypothesis that high THC levels are dangerously impairing people's driving?

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#246

Post by michael1999 »

Sparkle-san wrote: post #173
Aurornis wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been a daily user for over 10 years and also have a spotless driving record. I knew a guy who drove home from bars unquestionably over the legal limit (example: 4-5 drinks in 90 minutes) every single weekend for years without getting caught or getting in accident. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t impaired.

That's not quite the same though. The claim is that because I'm a habitual user, I'm always impaired. Which amounts to over 100k miles of impaired driving over the last decade.

Planning, good sense, and caution go a long way to compensate for physical impairment. Weed is different from booze in that booze increases risk taking, which makes driving such a danger. But that doesn’t mean weed doesn’t impair in some material way compared to baseline.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#247

Post by rayiner »

metadope wrote: post #226
Youden wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a larger discussion in a previous thread on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45494730 Since then, [0] has been published and I think it's worth at least a skim. Since it's quite recent the introduction summarizes some of the most recent research. The things that jump out at me are: - [0]: Habitual users with baseline concentrations above legal limits perform just as well as habitual users wi…

> the number of drivers in accidents with THC in their blood is going up because the number of people with THC in their blood is going up This. In just the short time since legalization, recreational use in my immediate vicinity (a small Ohio village, one stop light) has decidedly, undeniably increased. I offer only an anecdotal observation, but my evening walks around town are now accompanied by a dank potpourri of…

Same thing in DC. I thought the new development in DC where we lived had a major sewer gas problem. Turns out it was marijuana.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#248

Post by rayiner »

Aurornis wrote: post #140
Sparkle-san wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got any real sources? I've been a daily user for over 10 years and also have a spotless driving record.

> I've been a daily user for over 10 years and also have a spotless driving record. I knew a guy who drove home from bars unquestionably over the legal limit (example: 4-5 drinks in 90 minutes) every single weekend for years without getting caught or getting in accident. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t impaired.

In the south people drive drunk over the legal alcohol limit all the time, most don’t crash. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#249

Post by jeremyjh »

Ancapistani wrote: post #233
epistasis wrote: post #7

Based on the headline, I was guessing it was any amount of positivity, and may be close to the population level, but it's actually impairment levels of THC: > In a review of 246 deceased drivers, 41.9% tested positive for active THC in their blood, with an average level of 30.7 ng/mL — far exceeding most state impairment limits. Since COVID in CA, it feels like driving has become far more dangerous with much more law…

There’s no reliable way to determine impairment from a blood test. At most, this says that ~42% of people used it recently and/or frequently enough for metabolites to be present. https://forensicresources.org/2021/marijuana-impairment-faq/

Sure, but if the baseline level of annual usage is only 20% in the general population then you still have a significant correlation.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#250

Post by sfn42 »

graeme wrote: post #244
bookofjoe wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DEAD people

If the population of dead drivers with over the limit THC is 40%, and this dramatically exceeds the population average, that would strongly suggest the THC level IS an indicator of either: 1. Impairment from THC, or 2. Worse than average driving and risk management skills in those who use the drug

Right, so it might just mean that reckless drivers are more likely to smoke weed.
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