The amount of car accidents in Colorado has increased in recent years. According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, accident fatalities have increased 24 percent from 2014-2016. Much speculation has been made as to why this is. Some of the main contributors are a growing state population and an increase in distracted driving, but the recent legalization of marijuana use has many people wondering if high drivers are to blame for the increase. The difficulty in detecting high drivers is one of the main concerns amongst Colorado law enforcement and citizens.

Is Marijuana Use Directly Linked to an Accident Increase?

In a recent CNBC article, they investigated rates of auto accident claims from insurance companies in three states with legal marijuana. According to the Highway Loss Data Institute, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have experienced a 3 percent increase in collision claims following the legalization of marijuana. This is alarming, but the research does not make a definite link that the increase is from stoned drivers. In this study Colorado was compared to nearby states Nebraska and Wyoming, which experience less collision claims, but also have a much lower population and less drivers on the road. However, Colorado has seen the most significant increase in accident claims of the legalizing states.

Another issue in determining if marijuana is involved, is that many drivers who are using marijuana are combining it with alcohol and other drugs. In 2012, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission found that following legalization, there were more drivers who had marijuana in their system after a fatal accident, but two-thirds of them had alcohol or other drugs in the system.

Research on the issue is still new, and we can expect more statistics to come in. Regardless, there has been an increase in the number of accidents in Colorado in recent years, and the legalization of marijuana has caused more stoned drivers to be on the road. The state needs to address this issue, and will likely come up with more crackdown efforts to identify stoned drivers soon. Intoxicated driving is never ok.

Tom Metier is an experienced car accident lawyer dedicated to giving justice to those injured by intoxicated drivers on the road.