A Tragic Cannabis-Related Fatal Motor Vehicle Collision
Fatal Motor Vehicle Collision
On a nice sunny day, Thursday June 18th, 2020, shortly after noon, a blue Infiniti G35 driven by 20 year old Brady Robertson, smashed at approximately 135 km/h ( speed limit, 70 km/h) into a stopped white Volkswagen Atlas driven by thirty-six year old Karolina Ciasullo. The white Volkswagen SUV was smashed into by Brady Robertson which then caused it to crash into a cement hydro pole that crumbled its roof. The driver, Karolina Ciasullo and her 3 daughters, Klara (6 years old), Lilianna (3 years old) and 1 year old Mila, were all killed.
The driver Brady Robertson, had no driver's license at the time he fatal collision, and was convicted of dangerous driving 2 days before this fatal MVC. He was taken to hospital and survived. A blood sample collected at approximately 1 hour after the collision showed his blood tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration to be 40 nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood (ng/mL). Another blood sample taken about 2 hours later showed a blood THC of 15 ng/mL. The legal blood THC limits in Canada are 2 to 5 ng/mL for a lesser charge and > 5 ng/mL for a more serious criminal charge.
Robertson's lawyer challenged the 5 ng/mL THC limit as unconstitutional.
Alcohol vs THC Impaired Driving
Both alcohol and THC cause impairment of driving ability, mainly due to their depressant effects. Both involve mainly younger male drivers. Unlike alcohol-related collisions that occur mainly at night and in the weekends and are mainly single motor vehicle collisions, THC-related impaired driving collisions occur mainly in the weekdays during the day and involve multi-vehicle collisions.
Brady Robertson, who was impaired by THC, exhibited the top 5 behaviors observed by the police. Only 6.7% of cannabis impaired drivers were observed by the police to travel too slow.
Conclusion
5 ng/mL THC Limit Constitutional
The judge ruled that the federal blood THC limit of 5 ng/mL was constitutional and stated
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"Based on the totality of factors I am entitled to consider; I am satisfied that the 5 ng/mL limit for THC had a dual purpose. The objective was to strengthen the pre-existing impaired driving laws and increase road safety by deterring cannabis users from getting behind the wheel of a car after having consumed cannabis."
Justice Coponecchia convicted Brady Robertson to 17 years in jail, one of the steepest penalties for an impaired driving causing death case in Canada.
References
Brubacher, J.R., Chan, H., Martz, W., Schreiber, W., Asbridge, M., Eppler, J., Lund, A., Macdonald, S., Drummer, O., Purssell, R., Andolfatto, G., Mann, R., and Brant, R., "Prevalence of Alcohol and Drug Use in Injured British Columbia Drivers."
Chihuri, S., Li, G., and Chen, Q., "Interaction of Marijuana and Alcohol on Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash Risk: A Case Control Study", Injury Epidemiology, 4: 8, 2017
Declues, K., Perez, S., and Figueroa, A, "A 2-Year Study on Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabionl Concentrations in Drivers: Examining Driving and Field Sobriety Test Performance", Journal of Forensic Science, 61: 1664-1670, 2016
Wigmore on Cannabis
Chief Executive Officer @ Dirigo Safety, LLC / Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor
2 个月Thank you for sharing this important perspective!
Police Officer | U.S. Navy Veteran | M.Div Student
2 个月Very informative, there are so many people that still do not realize they can get a DUI on marijuana, or more importantly how deadly marijuana impairment is.
IMMAD Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving
3 个月Marijuana impairs functions critical for safe driving. Marijuana impairs visual functions. A driver having used marijuana cannot always see traffic signals, stop signs, pedestrians or other cars. IMMAD-VR is an objective test of peripheral retinal functions using VR goggles displaying small striped squares that test for marijuana impairment roadside.