The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) participated Thursday in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Drugged Driving Summit, which launched the NHTSA’s Drug-Impaired Driving Initiative.
The summit is designed to encourage a national dialogue and create a call-to-action. It is in response to legalized marijuana and the national opioid epidemic.
“Nobody can solve drugged driving alone, but by sharing best practices we can begin to save lives today – we cannot afford to wait,” Heidi King, NHTSA deputy administrator, said. “And by advancing the science and the data, we can address this problem for our communities in the future.”
Topics discussed at the summit included enforcing driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) laws, collecting data and tracking DUIDs, testing and measuring driver impairment levels, and best practices for educating the public on the risk of drug-impaired driving.
GHSA consultant and author Dr. James Hedlund spoke at the event, and GHSA member Michael Sandoval participated in a best practices panel.
GHSA also participates in the Ford Driving Skills for Life program which is developing a drugged driving suit that re-creates the effects of being drugged.
In addition, GHSA has partnered with the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility to provide grants for state law enforcement.