Federal highway safety officials have long tracked the role of alcohol in fatal crashes, but they don’t track deaths that involve a driver under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. That discrepancy is partly due to the challenges of proving impairment, since some drugs remain detectable for weeks after use.
NTSB researchers reported in 2022 that, across four geographical samples of roughly 26,000 drivers, about half of those arrested for impaired driving and more than a quarter of drivers killed in crashes tested positive for more than one substance, such as cocaine, sedatives, and antidepressants. The analysis also found that only four states and the District of Columbia drug-tested more than 60% of fatally injured drivers in 2020.
Those findings led the NTSB, an independent federal agency that investigates major incidents, to make a series of recommendations to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and states to establish a comprehensive, nationwide dataset on impaired driving. But hurdles remain to creating such a system. Fatality and injury reports submitted to the NHTSA database often feature missing or erroneous data, according to a 2022 report.
Varying state laws around testing arrestees and decedents for drugs make getting uniform data difficult, according to Caroline Cash, a former employee of NHTSA’s impaired-driving division, as does a lack of proven metrics like blood alcohol content to measure drug impairment, not just the presence of a drug.
Acknowledging how long those efforts will take, the NTSB also recommended that NHTSA build an interim surveillance system that would use data from trauma centers to create a national sample of crash-involved impaired drivers.
The agency made some headway, reporting in 2023 that it was conducting its own study with the help of 11 trauma centers and medical examiner offices. It also helped California establish a 19-month statewide surveillance system, which NHTSA will use to evaluate the feasibility of a nationally representative system.
Such programs are useful for public awareness and for improving the ability of police to understand drugged driving patterns that can help them tailor enforcement, said James Chenoweth, a University of California-Davis associate professor who researches toxicology and was involved in the California program. But some trauma centers, especially in rural areas, often lack the research infrastructure necessary for round-the-clock drug testing and participation.
Still, it’s possible, and he said the benefit is apparent in the findings from California’s surveillance system.
The two gunmen who opened fire at a San Diego mosque and killed three people inside Monday were “fully armored,” a witness and member of the mosque said. (Winton, Fry, Hernandez and Harter, 5/18)
Authorities say the two teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a California mosque had been radicalized online where they first met. (Watson, biesecker and Seewer, 5/19)
On Tuesday, he was identified as Amin Abdullah. The mosque called him “a courageous man who put himself on the line of the safety of others.” (Fry and Garcia, 5/19)
The men were identified Tuesday as Mansour Kaziha, Nader Awad and Amin Abdullah by the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. (Figueroa, 5/19)
Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. health secretary, continue to lead as the top two candidates, a poll released Tuesday showed. (Tat, 5/19)
A $25 million grant to cash-strapped hospitals became law less than a week after it was introduced — so fast that it caught some hospitals and even lawmakers off guard. (Yu and Ibarra, 5/15)
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the Trump administration is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California. (Rector, 5/13)
Many Californians no longer have access to healthcare because of higher premiums or their immigration status. Free clinics are rushing to fill the gaps in coverage. (Cabrera-Lomeli and Hernandez, 5/5)
A ballot measure that would cap hospital executives’ compensation has qualified to appear on voters’ ballots in November, according to Secretary of State Shirley Weber. (Paviour, 5/15)
The union representing thousands of UC medical and service workers reached a tentative agreement with UC that narrowly averted an open-ended strike. (Asimov, 5/14)
Dr. Sean Townsend has been appointed chief medical officer at Providence Sonoma County, which includes Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Healdsburg Hospital and Petaluma Valley Hospital. (5/11)
The Bay Area is slated to get its first new medical school in more than 100 years, thanks to a partnership between two longstanding institutions and the largesse of a Silicon Valley couple. (Geha, 5/19)
Californians accused of crimes can receive mental health treatment rather than prison time. Lawmakers are revamping the rules following reports of violent offenses. (Singh, 5/13)
Encampments often reappear days — sometimes hours — after they’re cleared. The sweeps cost taxpayers more than $7 million each year. (Davis and Taketa, 5/10)
As the number of unhoused families continues to climb, some school districts are using their parking lots to shelter homeless students and their families. (Morton, 5/12)
California Public Health officials said they have identified a fifth person from the Golden State who may have been exposed to hantavirus following an outbreak on a luxury cruise ship. None of the five California residents have tested positive for the hantavirus. (Fiset, 5/14)
San Francisco lawmakers punted on advancing an ordinance by Supervisor Myrna Melgar that would prohibit smoking on the outdoor patios of local bars and taverns. (Salazar, 5/19)
The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) announced Friday it is no longer accepting applications for its air purifier distribution program for residents of the South Bay impacted by the Tijuana River pollution crisis due to a lack of funding. (Armstrong, 5/19)
California health officials have released new scientific findings that suggest the health risks from exposure to two chemicals present in ambient air, acrolein and ethylene oxide, are worse than previously known. (Smith, 5/14)
Although California laws prevent schools and nearby farmers from applying pesticides when students are present, cities are largely an exception. On May 1, Patterson city staff sprayed pesticides at Floragold Park next to Apricot Valley Elementary school while kids were outside. (Bisharyan, 5/18)
Napa County Public Health is monitoring the situation at a Napa senior housing complex where two cases of Legionnaires’ disease were reported in the past two months. (Booth, 5/12)
Varenna at Fountaingrove faces an elder abuse lawsuit filed on behalf of a resident who is the widow of a California appellate court justice. (Murphy and Barber, 5/15)
Proposed legislation would exempt from taxation 50% of the residential property owned by a fully disabled veteran, or 100% if their household income does not exceed $40,000. (King, 5/13)
A rare UCSF archive of Japanese medical scrolls, woodblock prints and herbal texts is going online. (Allday, 5/10)
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