Truckers Under the Influence Endanger Passenger Vehicles

At the present time, the federal authorities necessitates pre-employment drug diagnostic tests and then random testing after being hired for all commercial motortruck drivers. The law specifically states that drivers with a commercial driver's licence (CDL) are subject to drug testing as are motortruck owner-operators with a CDL and motor bearers who usage drivers with a CDL.

A recent survey by the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety showed that 15% of all interstate motortruck drivers had marihuana in their system, 12% had stimulations (non-prescription), 5% had prescription stimulants, 2% had coke and less than 1% had alcoholic beverage in their system.

Alcohol

Regarding alcoholic beverage use, a driver makes not have got to be intoxicated to be impaired. Even very low blood alcoholic beverage content (BAC) degrees impair drive public presentation by reducing the driver's reaction clip and deceleration his decision-making process. At the current time, the federal authorities forbids commercial motortruck drivers, railway and mass theodolite workers, marine employees, and aircraft airplane pilots from operating vehicles with a BAC at or greater than 0.04%. The figure of accidents caused by drunk motortruck drivers have actually decreased in recent years. Statistics show that approximately only 1-3% of hauling accidents are caused by an impaired motortruck driver.

Marijuana

Many people have got the false impression that drive after smoke marihuana is safer than drive after drinking. This is simply not true. Marijuana can impact concentration, perceptual experience and reaction clip as long as 24 hours after it is smoked. That is much, much longer than alcoholic beverage impacts a driver's behavior.

Marijuana have been establish to be a factor in over 12% of fatal hauling accidents. In recent years, out of the teamsters tested randomly for drugs and alcohol, a humongous 45% showed marihuana in their system.

Methamphetamine

Due to the very long hours they often have got to work, motortruck drivers are always looking for ways to remain awake and alert to ran into deadlines. It have been reported that 17 out of every 20 teamsters state it is very easy to happen methamphetamine hydrochloride at motortruck Michigan along their route. Truckers have got recently been succumbing more than than and more to the powerful drug owed to the fact it can maintain people awake for respective hours and sometimes years at a time. Surveys and wayside diagnostic tests have got indicated that one in five teamsters utilize stimulations on some of their trips.

Perhaps there is a demand for more than drug testing of our nation's motortruck drivers. Though most teamsters are tested randomly after their day of the month of hire, many of them even state it is not often enough.