The National Transportation Safety Board issued a safety alert to parents on July 18th: Parents: Protect Your Teen from Marijuana-Impaired Driving.  A recent investigation into an Oklahoma crash highlights the risks associated with marijuana-impaired driving among teens.  National Highway Safety Board released its report on a collision in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.  Six teen girls, ages 15-17 died in March  2022: Gracie Machado, Brooklyn Triplett, Austin Holt, Madison Robertson, Addison Gratz and Memory Wilson.  They were among the more than 3,600 teens who died in vehicle crashes that year.

The NTSB investigation showed that the teen driver approached an intersection and briefly slowed down at the stop sign.  She did not stop but accelerated and turned left in front of an oncoming truck tractor in combination with a trailer loaded with gravel. The driver and front-seat passenger wore seatbelts, but four girls in the overcrowded backseat did not.   The driver was impaired by the recent use of marijuana. 

This crash killed more teens than others last year, but it’s not unique. In South Elgin, IL on August 31, 2023,  Aanomeya Henry of Elgin drove to school and turned left, failing to yield to an oncoming dump truck at 7 a.m.  She killed two of her passengers. “Henry was driving under the influence of marijuana, according to news reports.”  Kamorra Campbell,17, and Tahlulah Henry, 16, the driver’s sister died immediately.  A third passenger suffered injuries.  It was 7 in the morning — before school started!  This idea of getting stoned during the school day suggests the need for a new parent movement.

Our problem in the US

• Marijuana use is impairing. It decreases motor coordination, slows reaction time, and impairs judgment of time and distance, all of which are critical for driving.1 

• Research on crashes in Washington state, which legalized marijuana, has shown that more drivers involved in fatal crashes tested positive for marijuana after legalization.2 

• Although marijuana may be legal in some states, driving while impaired is unsafe and illegal in all states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

• Driving under the influence of marijuana is dangerous for all drivers, but teens are especially vulnerable because of their limited driving experience.

• In 2022, 3,615 teen drivers (ages 15 to 19) were involved in crashes that included fatalities.3

• Both medical marijuana states and legalization states do a horrible job of educating drivers.  In California, for example,  a commission gave the state 31 recommendations to improve safety after legalization.  The legislature never enacted any of it into law, perhaps due to opposition from the pot industry

What can parents do? 

Since schools are no longer obligated to give drug information, parents must fill in the gaps.

•  When talking to your teen about driving safety, be sure to address the risks of marijuana-impaired driving (just like drunk driving). 

•  Talk to your teen about the risks of marijuana use and its impairing effects on motor coordination, judgment, and reaction time. Discuss how marijuana use can negatively affect your teen’s ability to drive safely. 

•  Remind your teen that driving while impaired is illegal. Some states have zero-tolerance policies not just for impairment, but for any recent marijuana use before driving. 

•  Discuss strategies for making safe and responsible choices including the avoidance of marijuana-impaired driving or riding with marijuana-impaired drivers. 

• Set the example by driving unimpaired by any drugs (legal or illegal). Be consistent between the messages you give your teen and your own driving behaviors. Novice teen drivers most often learn by observing their parents.

1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 2014. “Cannabis/Marijuana.” In Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheets, DOT HS 809 725, 7-12. Washington, D.C. Revised April 2014.

2Tefft, B.C. and L.S. Arnold. 2020. Cannabis Use Among Drivers in Fatal Crashes in Washington State Before and After Legalization. Research Brief. Washington, D.C.: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

3NHTSA. 2024. Teen Distracted Driver Data: Teens and Distracted Driving in 2022.” Washington, D.C. 

<NTSB Warning re teens and driving and marijuana use July 2024.pdf>

<Legislative Report Jan 21 FINAL.pdf>