title: The prevalence of drugs and alcohol in fatally injured truck drivers.
abstract: To assess the impact of alcohol and other drug use in the trucking industry, the National Transportation Safety Board, in collaboration with The National Institute on Drug Abuse investigated fatal-to-the-driver trucking accidents in eight states over a one year period. Comprehensive drug screens were performed on blood specimens collected from 168 fatally injured drivers. One or more drugs were detected in 67% of the drivers and 33% of the drivers had detectable blood concentrations of psychoactive drugs or alcohol. The most prevalent drugs were cannabinoids and ethanol, each found in 13% of the drivers. Cocaine or benzoylecgonine was found in 8% of the cases. Seven percent of the driver's blood specimens contained amphetamine or methamphetamine and 7% contained phenylpropanolamine, ephedrine, or pseudoephedrine. A panel of toxicologists reviewed the accident investigation report and the toxicology findings for each case and determined that impairment due to marijuana use was a factor in all cases where the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration exceeded 1.0 ng/mL and that alcohol impairment contributed to all accidents where the blood alcohol concentration was 0.04% wt/vol or greater. In 50 of 56 cases where psychoactive drugs or alcohol were found, impairment due to substance use contributed to the fatal accident.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Toxicology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Crouch
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Birky
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Gust
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Rollins
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Moulden
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Quinlan
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Beckel
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000662:Amphetamines / Q000097:blood; D003042:Cocaine / Q000097:blood; D013759:Dronabinol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D013759:Dronabinol; D003042:Cocaine