Police Chief Magazine|Columns|Traffic Safety Initiatives
Traffic Safety Initiatives: Capturing Drug-Impaired Driving Data

With the advent of marijuana legalization and decriminalization throughout much of the United States and the continued opioid crisis, drugged driving has never been a more pressing concern.

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Traffic Safety Initiatives: From Traffic Stops to Community Impact

According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, self-reported data revealed that 37.3 million individuals (ages 12 years or older) were current illicit drug users in the United States. M...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Legal but Lethal

Across the United States, police officers are encountering a troubling pattern: drivers who show unmistakable signs of impairment, such as slurred speech, slowed reaction time, or poor coordination, y...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Reimagining Minor Crash Response

While there are law enforcement agencies that are fully staffed, many do not have the resources necessary for timely response to every call for service. When considering how leadership could improve o...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Every Agency Needs More DREs

In 2023, there were over 1,500 drug-impaired drivers for each certified drug recognition expert (DRE) in the United States. Research has shown that a 10 percent increase in driving under the influence...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: A Blueprint for Fatigue Risk Management on Patrol

Oscar Kilo—the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS)—is specifically designed to provide support and guidance for organizational wellness to all police agencies within England and Wales. The pr...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Detection in 60 Seconds

Impaired drivers pose a critical threat to public safety, and officers must be equipped with tools to detect impairment quickly and accurately. Advanced techniques can enhance the efficiency and sensi...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Grabbing at Smoke

Why is proving a case so difficult when the impairing drug of choice is marijuana? Police officers and prosecutors have become very skilled at investigating and convicting drivers impaired by alcohol....
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Gabapentin Primer

The increasing use and misuse of gabapentin, an anticonvulsive medication, pose notable risks to public health and traffic safety. After obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 1993 fo...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: Roadside Oral Fluid Testing to Combat Impaired Driving

As of this writing, 24 states and the District of Columbia have taken measures to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, and 38 states have legalized medical cannabis.1 Public officials need to pa...
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Traffic Safety Initiatives: A DRE’s Perspective

For four decades, the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, under the direction of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the International Association of Chief’s of Police, ha...
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