Why Such Passion about Drugs and Driving?

The Mission–Save Lives by Slashing Motor Vehicle Accidents Caused by Sedating Drugs

James Hedlund reported in 2017, that 43% of fatally injured US drivers had drugs detected in their system that were potentially capable of impairing driving (1)   

Moreover, according to the National Safety Council there were 40,100 road deaths  in the US in 2017,with 4.57 million people injured who required medical attention and the cost to society totalled a staggering $US 413.8 billion.(2)

Furthermore 25,600 road deaths and 1,453,400 injuries occurred in the European Union in 2016 as well. (3) 

What Drives the Passion about Drugs and Driving?

I have always been excited about new technologies and their positive impact on society.

Consequently I really enjoyed my secondary role as a call centre manager in the solar industry while simultaneously looking for safer drugs for patients who drive cars.

However on the 9 March 2009, all my priorities had dramatically changed that day.

After reviewing the latest clinical research on drugs and driving in the morning, I began my trip to modern solar which was just 10 minutes from home.

As I drove out of my driveway, I looked to the right, then to the left and again to the right and everything was clear so I drove out safely.

Suddenly a motorcyclist came screaming over the hill driving substantially above the speed limit and he slammed into my car.

For some reason, he diverted his attention and looked directly into my eyes for a fraction of a second before he dropped his bike to lower his collision speed.

I subsequently examined the skid marks that were present before he dropped his motorbike.

It became very apparent that if he dropped his motorbike just a fraction of a second earlier he would have got up with barely scratches instead of impacting the side of my car.

It seemed like there was only a very small impact when he hit me.

Although I was very well trained in first aid, I was still pleased that at that exact moment there was a specialist emergency paramedic on hand to assist as well.

However while my lovely neighbour was holding his hand to comfort this accident victim, it was very clear that within 1 minute he went into shock.

Fortuitously my other neighbour a medical practitioner also arriving home early was able to make an intracardiac injection before the ambulance arrived but it was clear that this man, although still alive was in very serious trouble.

The Drama Continues with Mandatory Blood and Urine Testing

It was after the ambulance took him away to our local hospital that was only 10 minutes away, that I had the obligatory police interview before I was taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing.

After transportation by the police to the local hospital, I had given my mandatory blood and urine samples that were shown to be clear with nothing found in my body.

That is very good news for an individual if you are the expert in this area!

Family Tragedies with Death of Motorcyclist

Then the very sad news arrived that the patient had died very soon after admission to the hospital and my thoughts went immediately to his wife and children.

The man had left behind a very distraught widow and young family that were left without a father for the rest of their lives.

Because of her great pain at the loss of her husband the distraught widow wished to immediately make a wreath and shrine where this accident occurred in front of my home.

Having previously lectured psychiatrists on depression, I realised that if this helped the widow process her grief and in some way find some comfort and meaning through this tragedy, I naturally agreed to her request.

However the consequence of this action was that every single day, every time I drove into my driveway I had a constant reminder of this tragic event.

My neighbour with a young family was very frightened for the safety of her family.

Her response after this tragedy was to cut down the trees in her front yard (including one of mine) to improve visibility to protect her young children from a future accident.

However the pain of this tragedy was so great that along with the fear of a potential accident for her children, this prompted her to sell her home to move her family to a safer street with less traffic.

Police Car Investigation and Insurance Issues

The police impounded my car for safety inspection and assessment for road worthiness for a further 4 weeks.

After getting the all clear from the police, repairs took an additional 3 weeks so that I was left without my own vehicle for 7 weeks.

Additionally my car insurance company wanted me to pay the $2,000 excess despite the fact that the deceased was speeding prior to the collision.

It was necessary for me to appeal to the company’s internal insurance tribunal to override this decision.

Armed with 2 police reports indicating that the deceased was speeding, along with the excellent expertise of a barrister who was one of my students at university whom I taught Pharmacology, the company tribunal finally relented and agreed that I was not responsible to pay any excess for the motor vehicle accident that occurred.

However, this tragic event is deeply embedded in the minds of all the people involved for the rest of our lives.

What can be done to prevent more of these tragic events occurring every day all around the world?

Driverless Cars-The Future?

There is a lot of enthusiasm about driverless cars and their ability to dramatically slash deaths and injuries attributable to motor vehicle accidents in the future.

According to John Chen the executive chairman and CEO of Blackberry, self-driving vehicles are poised to dramatically reduce the number of road accidents and deaths by eliminating human drivers and consequently human error.

He stated that if the number of road deaths in China were halved this would translate into a positive GDP growth of 15%. (4)

However there are still some challenges that need to be overcome by these exciting new technologies.

David Knight in the attached video outlined new information about both the Tesla “Autopilot” crash in Utah and the Uber self-driving car crash that killed a pedestrian in Arizona.(5)

This confirms that much more research needs to be done before driverless vehicles are safe for us all to use on the roads.

In the interim, we passionately pursue less sedating, safer drugs in every therapeutic drug class to minimize deaths, serious injuries and property damage attributable to motor vehicle accidents.

References    

(1) James Hedlund. Drugged Impaired Driving. Governors Highway Safety Association. (GHSA) Report. April 2017.P 1-56. https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/GHSA_DruggedDriving2017_FINAL_revised.pdf

(2) National Safety Council.2017 Estimates Show Vehicle Fatalities Topped 40,000 for Second Straight Year. https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates

(3) Source: CARE (EU road accidents database) or national publications European Commission / Directorate General for Mobility and Transport. European Commission .Road Safety Evolution in EU. April 2018.P1-4 https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/historical_evol.pdf.  

(4) John Chen, executive chairman and CEO, Blackberry. The safety plan would

‘defeat the purpose' of self-driving cars.4 May 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/self-driving-cars-need-global-safety-solution-blackberry-ceo-john-chen.html

(5) David Knight. Uber’s Auto-Crash Mode. Auto-pilot vehicles should concern everyone. 25 May 2018.https://www.infowars.com/ubers-auto-crash-mode/