news article about substances

[pigless in VA]

Apparently, other substances have now surpassed alcohol as far as driving impairment goes.

Study: Drugged Driving Surpasses Drunken Driving in Deadly Crashes

 

[mof]

I saw that, it's scary.

 

[BusynMember]

Which is why buying a drug user a car or even giving them keys to ours makes no sense ro me. I really dont get it. Safer to walk, ride a bike, anything...even if there isnt public transportation. Putting them behind the wheel of a car can kill them (and others) just as if we handed them drugs.

 

[mof]

These cars are not given...as drug use rises and pot is legal it becomes higher. Our son is sober and will be purchasing his own car soon.

But unfortunately there are working users who have not hit bottom...sadly, many drinkers also. It's about choices, decisions and people around them perhaps taking the keys when suspicious.

 

[BusynMember]

I was thinking of the many parents who get drug using kids cars and use of their cars. Once or if they work and can buy their own it is their decision. Until then it is on us if we put them on the street because...well, is there a sensible reason? Not only do we put our child at high risk but other people too.

 

[mof]

Agreed, but giving any. Child a car in our opinion ,is risky. We live in a fluent area and it is assumed we will hand our children cars at 16. Simply, parents find it "easier", well until they get cars many make less than stellar decisions....children do not make the best choices simply be a use they are growing.

Yes, our children will ride the bus shamefully, lol.

I agree if you suspect shifty behavior keep your keys. Our cars also have tracker sin them. Truth serum.

 

[BusynMember]

I still think its very dangerous. It puzzles me. We try to keep them alive...i grew up in a rich suburb of Chicago.ost of the kids had brand new cars. I didnt. It drove an old Bel Aire that was our only car lol. Remember, I never drank or used drugs. I dont think its wrong to let kids who are responsible drive our cars.

Im not sure we should give into cultural peer pressure if we dont want our kids to give intonpeer pressure. Many of our insecure kids start using drugs at first to fit into the "rebellious misfit" crowd. My daughter did.

At any rate, i did not mean to criticize..just to express how baffled I am by the car thing. I cut my daughters car access off after her first accident. I thought everyone would. I didnt want, if anything, to feel mega guilt if I let her drive my car high and she killed herself or somebody else. I did not want to feel in any way responsible. She had three accidents on drugs, two driving friends cars after we took her keys.

Since being sober for twelve years she has not had one accident.

Being clearheaded makes a difference, i guess.

 

[ColleenB]

In our case we had let our son use our cars lately, as he didn't show signs of drug use. He was going out, but he didn't drive home, which we found annoying from a sense he had our car out, but he has never driven under the influence, he actually has been very good about that. In his worst times, he simply didn't drive.

He has a strong view on driving under the influence and will cab home and leave our car downtown. Like I said, we find it annoying but are relieved he doesn't drive under the influence. I know you will say how can we be sure... but like I said, it's him, he simply won't drive if he feels he is high or drunk. We are fortunate in that.

His accidents have been bumpers, and have for three out of the four been not his fault. The last one, he backed up and didn't see something in the way. It isn't a lot of damage but our feeling is that he needs to pay for it.

We don't worry about the impaired driving with him, it honestly hasn't been an issue. But in the case we ever felt he was using heavily ( like he was a year back) we cut off all access to our vehicles.

 

[SuZir]

People are really bad at evaluating if they are fit to drive. One sleepless night impairs one's driving ability same as 0,1 % BAC. One doesn't actually really notice that. Same goes when one is under influence of drugs. And many of those drugs people use to get intoxicated are, well, drugs. Same drugs that are used to help with all kinds of illnesses and conditions. When people take a pill for their back pain or have taken a benzo a night before to help them sleep, they often do not notice, that they are not fit to drive. Often they feel just fine, but actually are danger to themselves and others. And different substances having so different half-lifes and so on, people have really hard time keeping count when they actually are fit to drive again. It's much easier with alcohol. If you take drugs to get high, to do the same math you would need to know for sure what you took and how much, with street drugs that is not easy. And if you take them just like your doctor ordered, you may not even understand that you are not supposed to drive while you are on them.