National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported an 11% jump in traffic fatalities last year, but only 5% was attributed to drunk driving. Beer Institute‘s Alex Davidson, public affairs director, said the trade group believes drunk driving is 100% preventable, and noted that in 2019, drunk driving-related deaths reached the lowest percentage in history, since NHTSA began tracking the number in 1982.
“Unfortunately, recent data show that during COVID, an increase in traffic fatalities was driven by risky driving behaviors like failure to wear a seatbelt, speeding and impaired driving. The beer industry supports the policies outlined in the federal government’s recently released National Roadway Safety Strategy to help reduce roadway fatalities and will continue to collaborate with public and private partners to bolster efforts to drive awareness around this important issue and change consumer attitudes and behaviors to ultimately end drunk driving.
“The beer industry remains committed to ending drunk driving and, for decades, has invested behind a range of initiatives and community-based programs to encourage consumers to always plan ahead for a safe ride. The promotion of responsible retailing and server training, safe ride programs, voluntary advertising guidelines, and the development and availability of low-to-no alcohol beverages all help ensure consumers can enjoy beer products safely and responsibly,” Davidson said.
Although the Beer Institute statement didn’t mention cannabis, a number of bev/al leaders with whom we’ve spoken have said they are concerned about an increase in traffic fatalities arising from the increased use of cannabis.
A recent study from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration notes that about 10% of those who use marijuana will become addicted. It specifically addressed the impact of cannabis on driving, saying that people who drive under the influence of marijuana” can experience dangerous effects: slower reactions, lane weaving, decreased coordination, and difficulty reacting to signals and sounds on the road.”
In a review of literature published last year, Frontiers in Psychiatry found that use of cannabis increased the risk of a traffic crash as much as 50%, and a 2021 study at Boston University found that between 2000 and 2018, the percentage of car crash death involving cannabis doubled, “and now these incidents are even more likely to involve alcohol.”
“There has been progress in reducing deaths from alcohol-impaired driving, but our study suggests that cannabis involvement might be undercutting these public health efforts,” says study senior author Timothy Naimi, adjunct professor at the Schools of Public Health and Medicine, and director of the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research in Victoria, Canada.