Drivers who smoke cannabis before getting behind the wheel almost double the risk of being involved in a serious road crash, new research has found. The study comes as roadside tests for drug driving, due to be introduced here early this year, have been delayed until “later in the year”.
The paper in the British Medical Journalfinds that cannabis consumption particularly increases the risk of a fatal crash. The risk of a fatal or serious crash among drivers who had taken cannabis was almost double that of drivers who had not taken alcohol or drugs. The paper, which reviews nine studies from different regions with a total sample almost 50,000 people, was written by academics in Dalhousie University, Canada.
