Psychotropic drug use and driving risk

This review deals with studies of the incidence of psychotropic drugs in general populations, in samples of drivers and samples of accident drivers. Investigations have varied in terms of drugs studied, reliability of data collection procedures and criteria for choosing sample populations. This variability plus lack of replicative investigations makes the generation of conclusions tentative at this time. The studies cited did show that as high as 35 to 50 percent of the general population risk driving after drug use at least once per year and suggest that 11 to 15 percent of accident drivers have taken a psychotropic drug prior to their accident. Psychotropic drug use is most likely to be found among certain drinking driver groups, especially the fatally injured. The authors indicate that the veracity of drivers' statements about drug use is very low and drug use estimates derived from questioning are probably very conservative.