Drug / alcohol abuse are playing ever increasing significance in fatal vehicle crashes. What does this mean for employers? The tables below from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration make it quite evident that substance abusers are in our community and some are most likely working for your firm, operating your machinery and driving your vehicles. This represents a significant exposure to your firm, its reputation and a risk to your continued existence if an accident results in injury for which your firm is held liable.
What is the answer? Random drug and alcohol testing program is the most powerful tool you can use to identify an employee under the influence of a drug or alcohol. Also, a random drug and alcohol testing program sends a very powerful message to your workforce that employees under the influence while operating machinery, vehicle or in safety sensitive positions will not be tolerated.
What are some effective tests? Typically, personnel involved in an accident must be sent to a clinic for testing with the donor providing a urine specimen. That is of course a viable option. But, the quicker to the actual time of the accident you can deliver the test, the more accurate the results. This is why we would recommend the use of Intercept to test for drugs and Q.E.D. to test for alcohol levels. Both of these tests use oral fluid. Oral fluid is an exact mirror of what is in the blood stream of the donor at the time the test is administered.
Q.E.D. requires on the spot interpretation of alcohol levels. Q.E.D. is an approved product for Department of Transportation alcohol testing. An employer should be aware of applicable state law in obtaining a specimen for non-DOT individuals.
The Intercept oral fluid drug test is very effective at uncovering individuals who are under the current influence of drugs. Results from the Quest Diagnostics Survey for 2015 are here and show the effectiveness of random drug testing versus pre-employment drug testing. The Intercept oral fluid drug test is laboratory based and takes about 10 minutes for the donor to provide the oral fluid specimen and complete the chain of custody forms. It also has in place the Medical Officer Review of results that provides a best practice.
More information on the Intercept oral fluid drug testing system is here
More information about the Q.E.D. alcohol test kit is here
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics.
Table 27 below show that about 1 in 20 fatal crashes involve a positive drug test result as a factor.
Table 28 below shows that about 1 in 7 fatal crashes involving all drivers involve a positive drug test as a factor.
Table 4 below shows an overall increase in alcohol related fatalities of 7.2%
| Analysis Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | ||||||
| Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2015 | ||||||
| FMCSA-RRA-16-021 | ||||||
| February 2017 | ||||||
| People Table 27. Drug Test Results for Large Truck Drivers in Fatal Crashes, 2013-2015 | ||||||
| Drug Test Result | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Not Tested for Drugs | 2,454 | 63.4% | 2,296 | 62.0% | 2,510 | 62.8% |
| No Drugs Reported/Negative | 871 | 22.5% | 853 | 23.0% | 870 | 21.8% |
| Unknown | 87 | 2.2% | 101 | 2.7% | 316 | 7.9% |
| Tested for Drugs, Results Unknown | 135 | 3.5% | 178 | 4.8% | 66 | 1.7% |
| Unknown if Tested | 120 | 3.1% | 84 | 2.3% | 49 | 1.2% |
| At Least One Positive Drug Test Result: | 205 | 5.3% | 190 | 5.1% | 185 | 4.6% |
| Narcotic | 58 | 1.5% | 45 | 1.2% | 40 | 1.0% |
| Depressant | 39 | 1.0% | 36 | 1.0% | 27 | 0.7% |
| Stimulant | 73 | 1.9% | 57 | 1.5% | 70 | 1.8% |
| Hallucinogen | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | * | 0 | 0.0% |
| Cannabinoid | 54 | 1.4% | 48 | 1.3% | 58 | 1.5% |
| Phencyclidine (PCP) | 1 | * | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Inhalant | 2 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Other Drugs | 74 | 1.9% | 90 | 2.4% | 79 | 2.0% |
| Tested for Drugs, Drugs Found, Type Unknown/Positive | 11 | 0.3% | 7 | 0.2% | 8 | 0.2% |
| Total | 3,872 | 100.0% | 3,702 | 100.0% | 3,996 | 100.0% |
| Analysis Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | ||||||
| Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2015 | ||||||
| FMCSA-RRA-16-021 | ||||||
| February 2017 | ||||||
| People Table 28. Drug Test Results for All Drivers in Fatal Crashes, 2013-2015 | ||||||
| Drug Test Result | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Not Tested for Drugs | 23,787 | 53.1% | 23,307 | 52.2% | 25,236 | 51.9% |
| No Drugs Reported/Negative | 10,503 | 23.4% | 10,454 | 23.4% | 9,997 | 20.6% |
| Unknown | 1,158 | 2.6% | 1,495 | 3.3% | 5,129 | 10.6% |
| Tested for Drugs, Results Unknown | 1,516 | 3.4% | 1,629 | 3.6% | 813 | 1.7% |
| Unknown if Tested | 1,300 | 2.9% | 1,146 | 2.6% | 605 | 1.2% |
| At Least One Positive Drug Test Result: | 6,540 | 14.6% | 6,640 | 14.9% | 6,833 | 14.1% |
| Narcotic | 1,713 | 3.8% | 1,712 | 3.8% | 1,800 | 3.7% |
| Depressant | 1,983 | 4.4% | 1,838 | 4.1% | 1,925 | 4.0% |
| Stimulant | 2,121 | 4.7% | 2,130 | 4.8% | 2,330 | 4.8% |
| Hallucinogen | 54 | 0.1% | 55 | 0.1% | 75 | 0.2% |
| Cannabinoid | 2,793 | 6.2% | 3,142 | 7.0% | 3,425 | 7.0% |
| Phencyclidine (PCP) | 35 | 0.1% | 27 | 0.1% | 24 | * |
| Anabolic Steroid | 1 | * | 6 | * | 2 | * |
| Inhalant | 12 | * | 12 | * | 7 | * |
| Other Drugs | 1,951 | 4.4% | 1,913 | 4.3% | 1,685 | 3.5% |
| Tested for Drugs, Drugs Found, Type Unknown/Positive | 303 | 0.7% | 319 | 0.7% | 366 | 0.8% |
| Total | 44,804 | 100.0% | 44,671 | 100.0% | 48,613 | 100.0% |
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics
Alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities increased by 3.2 percent from 2014 to 2015 (Table 4), accounting for 29 percent of 2015 over- all fatalities. An alcohol-impaired-driving fatality is defined as a fatality in a crash involving a driver or motorcycle rider (opera- tor) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 g/dL or greater. Light-truck van drivers showed the greatest percentage decrease in alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes from 2014 to 2015, dropping 13 percent or 32 drivers. Passenger car drivers involved in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes had the largest increase with 193 drivers (a 5% increase), followed by SUV drivers (35 or 2.3%).
Table 4
Total and Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities * 2014 And 2015
| 2014 | 2015 | Change | % Change | |
| Total Fatalities | 32,744 | 35,092 | +2,348 | +7.2% |
| AI-Driving Fatalities | 9,943 | 10,265 | +322 | +3.2% |
| Alcohol-Impaired Drivers in Fatal Crashes by Vehicle Type | ||||
| Passenger Cars | 3,892 | 4,085 | +193 | +5.0% |
| Light Truck – Vans | 246 | 214 | -32 | -13.0% |
| Light Truck – Utility | 1,494 | 1,529 | +35 | +2.3% |
| Light Truck – Pickups | 1,936 | 1,900 | -36 | -1.9% |
| Motorcycles | 1,370 | 1,365 | -5 | -0.4% |
| Large Trucks | 68 | 60 | -8 | -11.8% |
