CRANBERRY, Pa. — Everybody knows of the dangers of driving drunk out here on the interstate, or even on local roads; but AAA wants to make sure people also understand that drug-impaired driving is just as dangerous.
“Drugged driving is on the rise,” AAA East Central Safety Adviser Terri Rae Anthony said.
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With the issue trending upward over the last few years, AAA is hoping to put those staggering statistics in reverse.
The traffic safety organization hosted an impaired driving summit in Cranberry on Wednesday, bringing together representatives from across the region including Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, state and local law enforcement, and the court system.
The goal was to share best practices to crack down on drugged driving.
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According to PennDoT, the state saw 450 deaths caused by impaired drivers last year; 299 of those involved drugs.
One in every 14 drug-related crashes resulted in death in 2021.
“We’re seeing an increase in impaired driving crashes. We’re seeing a decrease in arrests, so we need to kind of recharge the batteries of those officers and those on the street battling it every day,” Dave Andrascik from the PA DUI Association said.
Experts say it’s not just illegal drugs causing problems on the roadways, but also prescriptions and their side effects that people are not paying close enough attention to.
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