Uncategorized – Page 6 – Traffic School Online

When you think of things that hurt your credit rating, you tend to look at the big-ticket items. That credit card debt you racked up over a Vegas weekend, the time you didn’t make your student loan payments for six months because you moved and didn’t get the bills, or that one time you moved out in the middle of the night because you couldn’t afford to pay your rent.

However, it’s important to remember that the little things affect your credit rating just as surely as the big things do. So if you’ve ever asked, “do unpaid traffic tickets affect your credit?” the answer you’re looking for is yes.

How Badly Can Unpaid Tickets Hurt?

It’s tempting to think of unpaid tickets as no big deal. After all, a $20 fine here, or a $50 fine there aren’t really that important. You’ll take care of them when you take care of them. However, the story of Omar Al Chaar, which was published by Aljazeera America, might give some people pause the next time they put off paying a ticket.

The story is a pretty simple one. Omar lived in the D.C. area, and he had a regular Thursday basketball game with some friends. A particularly overzealous parking enforcement agent kept ticketing him every time his meter ran out, even if it had only been out for a minute. Instead of parking somewhere else, or taking a quick break to feed the meter a little earlier, Omar decided to stop paying the tickets. After all, what were they going to do to him over a few unpaid parking citations?

The answer was drop his credit score by a triple-digit amount.

When this whole thing got started, Omar had a credit score in the solid 700 range, which is just what you want in case you decide to buy a house or get a new car. When he went to make a major purchase that required a background and credit check, though, he found his score had dropped 105 points as a direct result of refusing to pay his parking tickets.

Traffic Tickets Are Just Like Any Other Debt

Debt makes up 30 percent of your credit score, and another 35 percent of it is made up of your payment history. So, if you have unpaid traffic tickets, they can put some big black marks in the two sections that make up more than half of your credit.

Of course, it isn’t getting the tickets that causes a problem. It’s not paying them.

Your credit report considers every aspect of your financial life, but it isn’t particularly concerned with whether or not you remember to feed the meter, or get pulled over for speeding. Those tickets only affect your credit report when they’ve sat for too long, and they go to collections. At that point you’ve simply not paid, and that is where your negative marks come in. The longer you leave those tickets unpaid, the worse they’ll drag down your credit rating.

The solution, of course, is to simply pay all your traffic tickets in a timely manner. Generally speaking it takes at least three months for a ticket to even show up on your credit report, so if you pay those tickets quickly they’ll never make an impact. It’s also important to get a receipt for your payment, and to check your credit score annually in order to be sure there are no unexpected entries. Traffic tickets can sometimes be left unpaid when you have a receipt that clearly says you covered the costs, and if you don’t contend the collection and get the paperwork straightened out then it can have a truly negative affect on your numbers.

Erase your traffic ticket fast and easy with America’s #1 Traffic School course.

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So highway patrol caught you speeding on the way home from work yesterday. You tried arguing with the officer a little that the speed really wasn’t posted anywhere and you were only traveling at the speed that felt safest. He still gave you a ticket. You still don’t feel it was rightly deserved and want to try and fight it! What do you do? You go to traffic court! But then, what should you do when you get there to help the case?

Here’s What NOT To Do

Court Room Decorum

When you go to court dress appropriately. Do not wear shorts and a tank top. Take the time to dress in a manner that shows the judge that you are a mature individual who deserves to have the privilege of driving. Wear some nice dress slacks and a button-down shirt. Females may want to dress in a longer skirt and a nice blouse or sweater. Try to keep the attire business casual. Do not chew gum while in the courtroom.

Don’t Talk Over or Interrupt the Judicial Officer

Have respect for the judicial officer hearing your case. Be polite and only talk at the appropriate times. Don’t argue or interrupt. If you can’t be polite and courteous in the traffic court room the judge may not believe that you are capable of being a polite and courteous driver.

Don’t sit in the audience talking.

While other cases are being heard you need to remember to sit in the audience quietly. Be patient. You don’t want to annoy the judge and have an opinion formed about you before it is even your turn.

Turn off your cell phones in the courtroom.

It is important to remember to turn your cell phone off in court. Many courts will actually post signs saying cell phones are not allowed.

Here’s What TO Do

Reach the Code Section you are being charged with.

Make sure that you have all the facts lined up before you set a trial. For most states, you can find the code section online.

Pay attention to other people’s cases being heard.

You’ll generally learn something if you listen to other people’s cases. See what they do to make things better or worse and use it for your own situation accordingly.

If you have an issue with the officer’s behavior, do not make this the only focus.

If your issue is with the officer’s behavior make sure that is not the only focus for your trial. Generally, that is an issue to be taken up with the policy agency. Be sure to mention it as a secondary issue and don’t use it as the entire reason you want the ticket to be dismissed.

Be prepared to spend most of the morning in court.

Don’t expect to get out of there early. Just be patient and wait your turn. You may not present your case properly if you are frustrated and anxious to leave. Also, remember, everyone there is in the same position you are so remember to be courteous.

Additional Advice for Traffic Court:

Legal Counsel: Consider hiring a traffic attorney or at least consulting with one before your court date. They can provide valuable insights into your specific situation and might increase your chances of getting the ticket dismissed or reduced.
- American Bar Association – Finding Legal Help
Gather Evidence: If possible, return to the scene and take photographs, especially if there are no clear speed limit signs. This can be used as evidence to support your claim.
Driving School: Some jurisdictions offer the option to attend a defensive driving course in lieu of paying the fine or getting points on your license. Inquire about this possibility.
Witnesses: If someone was with you at the time of the alleged violation, consider bringing them as a witness. Their testimony might support your case.

There is nothing more frustrating than having to pay an unexpected penalty; especially if you genuinely did not know the traffic laws of the region you were in. The truth is that ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you are planning a summer road trip, or travel often, it is probably a good idea to know which states give the most tickets and the penalties you could be facing. At the end of the day, it is up to you to keep yourself and your pocketbook safe.

Florida

There are a lot of crazy stories that come out of Florida, which is why it is almost unbelievable that they won the award for most tickets given out. If you get caught with simple speeding you can expect charges up to $250 and you can lose your license for up to 30 days. If the violation exceeds minor speeding penalties you can expect up to 500 dollars in fees and 90 days without a license.

Georgia

The state of Georgia ties for second in the state that hands out the most speeding tickets. Though they may not hand out as many as Florida, their punishments are much harsher. A first-time violator can expect fees and punishments up to $1,000, one year in jail, and five years without a license. In a strange twist, the same punishments apply to more serious traffic violations.

Nevada

It turns out that Nevada is the last place you want to gamble when it comes to speeding. They tie Georgia in tickets issued but are not quite as harsh with their penalties. If you get caught over the speed limit in Nevada you will see fees up to $1,000, six months in jail, and losing your license for an entire year. Just like in Georgia, the fees do not increase with the crime severity.

Texas

The state of Texas comes in 3rd – or 4th depending on how you look at it – in the number of tickets issued. Texas is an interesting entry, not only because they are a larger state, but because their penalties are much lower. A speeding ticket in Texas will get you as little as a $1 fine but could fetch up to $200. A license suspension of up to one year is also in play. More serious infractions carry the same penalties with the added possibility of one year of jail time.

Alabama

If you haven’t gotten the notion yet, you should probably adhere to the speed limit when you are in the south. Alabama rounds out the top five states you don’t want to get caught in. Violators in Alabama will see fees up to $100 dollars, 10 days of jail time, and a 1-year license suspension. More severe crimes garner up to $500, 3 months jail time, and 6 months without a license.

Of course, the cost of a ticket is only the beginning of your woes when you get pulled over. There are increases in insurance costs and even legal fees. There are other fees that you wouldn’t even think of until you lose your license like the cost of a bus pass or a taxi ride. We all make mistakes and it is not the worst thing in the world to incur a speeding ticket, but it is always smart to adhere to speed limits and know the laws of whichever state you are traveling in.

Don’t forget that there are often ways around these penalties. It all depends on the state, but there are many ways to fight a ticket; explore your options before you give in and pay for the ticket. If you must accept a punishment look into traffic school, especially online traffic school, as a way to lessen your penalties.

Speed traps are the bane of motorists everywhere. You’re just driving along, minding your own business, and then you see those cherries and berries flashing in your rear view mirror. Sometimes you get let off with a warning, but sometimes you end up with a ticket, and points on your license.

According to the California legislature:

A “speed trap” is either of the following:

(1) A particular section of a highway measured as to distance and with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

(2) A particular section of a highway with a prima facie speed limit that is provided by this code or by local ordinance under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 22352, or established under Section 22354, 22357, 22358, or 22358.3, if that prima facie speed limit is not justified by an engineering and traffic survey conducted within five years prior to the date of the alleged violation, and enforcement of the speed limit involves the use of radar or any other electronic device that measures the speed of moving objects. This paragraph does not apply to a local street, road, or school zone.

The obvious way to avoid these traps is to just drive safely, and obey the speed limit at all times. However, there are other steps you can take, as well.

Understanding What A Speed Trap Is

First, it’s important for anyone who gets behind the wheel to know what the definition of a speed trap is. A speed trap is not a police car parked behind a billboard, waiting for you to drive by to clock you going too fast. Because if the speed limit is clearly posted, then whether you saw the cop or not when you were speeding doesn’t matter.

No, an actual speed trap is when something genuinely illegal is happening. For example, if a stretch of road has a poorly posted speed limit that’s different from other parts of that road, then that is a speed trap. It is the government’s responsibility to clearly mark changes in the speed limit so drivers can respond accordingly. It is also the government’s responsibility to make sure those changes in speed limit are backed up by research from the highway department stating the change is necessary, which ensures no one is randomly creating places to trap motorists as they speed.

Identifying and Handling Speed Traps

One of the easiest ways to find, and deal with, speed traps is to download an app that updates you about their existence. The mobile app Waze, for example, is primarily a GPS program, but it also provides information about speed traps on your route. This information is invaluable, and if all you want to do is avoid getting caught in a speed trap, then this is pretty much all you have to do. While the app isn’t infallible, it is regularly updated to be sure you don’t get caught off guard.

If you want to take bigger steps to fix speed traps, though, then you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and get political, according to Motorists.

In order for a change in speed limit on a given stretch of road to be legal, it must be backed-up by a survey done by the highway department in the past five years. If you suspect this isn’t the case, then you need to contact the department, and request the study in question for that particular speed trap. If it doesn’t exist, you need to file a complaint that a speed trap has been created, and is being illegally exploited to capture motorists in order to fine them. You’ll need to check and re-check on your complaint, as well, and if you know other people who’ve been caught in that speed trap, then you need to get them to register complaints, too. Involving the media, and possibly taking legal action, may also be necessary at some point.

Change Is Hard

Speed traps are a problem, especially when you consider that motorists’ fines go straight into the government’s coffers in some way, shape, or form. Avoiding these traps is fairly simple, thanks to today’s technology and the speed at which communication happens. Changing them, though, and ensuring that motorists don’t have to constantly look over their shoulder, that is a much more difficult process. But it can be done, if enough citizens band together, and refuse to be silent about what’s happening.

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The pioneer in online driver improvement with over 1 million satisfied graduates … since 1998.

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There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when flashing lights appear in your rearview mirror. You know that you were going too fast, or that you missed that stop sign, or that you squeaked through a light a few critical seconds after it turned red, and those lights mean that you’re in danger of getting a ticket for it. If you’re out of your home state, the odds of getting a ticket are even higher, since many officers will be more likely to ticket tourists instead of letting them off with just a warning. What actually happens when you get a traffic ticket out-of-state?

Do you have to pay a traffic ticket when it’s acquired out-of-state?

The short answer: yes! Any time you get a traffic ticket, you’re responsible for paying it. If you don’t pay the ticket, there can be serious legal ramifications. In fact, you may feel more pressured to pay a traffic ticket received out-of-state, since it’s more difficult to contest it. In every state, if you have unpaid tickets in another state, they will suspend your license.

What if you want to contest a traffic ticket received out-of-state?

When you’re in your home city, if you want to contest a traffic ticket, you just need to take a day off work and go to court to contest the ticket. In some cases, this can be effective in having the ticket removed from your record, the points removed from your license, and your fees reduced or removed–especially if the police officer responsible for issuing it doesn’t show up. When you receive a traffic ticket out-of-state, however, you’ll have to go back to the county in which it was issued in order to contest the ticket–which is often more expensive than simply paying for it. If you do opt to contest the ticket, make sure that you hire an attorney from that state to represent you.

Do you get points on your license for a ticket issued out-of-state?

Thanks to the Driver’s License Compact, signed by 45 states and Washington, DC, states share information about traffic violations with one another. If you receive a ticket in any of those states, information about it will get back to the state that issued your driver’s license. How your home state handles that information, however, will vary. Consider these rules:

If you’re in New Jersey, all violations from another state will incur two points on your license.

If you’re in Colorado or Pennsylvania, a minor traffic violation–speeding, for example–won’t be placed on your record at all.

Maryland and Nevada opt not to issue points for violations received out-of-state, but will record the violation.

Severe violations–DUIs, for example–will receive more attention and will certainly show up on your record.

Does your insurance go up if you receive a ticket out-of-state?

When it comes to insurance, whether or not your insurance goes up depends on a number of factors. First and foremost, it will depend on whether or not your state chooses to record those violations that were received in other states. Second, it will depend on the severity of your offense; and finally, it will depend on whether or not your state allows for insurance increases after a single moving violation.

Receiving a traffic ticket while you’re traveling, whether you’re on vacation or on a business trip, isn’t a reason to panic. The good news is, you have many of the same options you’d have if you received a ticket in your home state–and the repercussions may be less severe. While you may have points added to your license, attending traffic school can help reduce them and get you back on track.

When you’ve accumulated points on your license, you often find yourself in the position of needing to reduce them. There are several reasons to attend traffic school to lower the number of points reflected on your license. Perhaps you’re in danger of losing your license due to repeated infractions, or maybe you just don’t want to deal with an increase in your insurance rates. Regardless of your reasons, when you choose to attend a traffic school in Florida, you want to make sure you’re not the victim of a scam and that you don’t end up being caught by a bait-and-switch pricing tactic.

How They Catch You

Many traffic schools offer what seem to be inexpensive up-front rates. “For just $7.95, you can remove points from your license today!” “Attend traffic school online for just $9.95!” The inexpensive up-front cost pulls you in, leading you to assume that the school is offering the most inexpensive option for removing points from your license and getting your driving record back to its usual sparkling condition. Unfortunately, those low fees don’t last long.

Buyer Beware: Bait and Switch Pricing Schemes

You chose the so-called cheapest option for your online traffic school. Unfortunately, it’s not destined to last. Once you register and select the course you want to take, you’ll find plenty of fake fees associated with the course that will drive your price up and eat away at those savings. In many cases, you’ll end up paying more for those fees than you would have if you’d chosen a more reputable traffic school to begin with. Some will claim a “certificate fee” — that is, you can take the course for their low price of $7.95, but you can’t get a certificate showing that you completed it without paying their certificate fee of $19.95. Others push the blame off on the state: you have to pay a “state processing fee” to complete the requirements. Here’s a hint: Florida does not charge a driver any state processing fee. The goal, of course, is to convince you to go ahead and hand over the money, even though it’s substantially higher than what you thought you were paying. You’ve already chosen a school and decided that this was the one you wanted to go with. You’ve registered with the site. Now you just want to get the class finished so that you can get back to your regular responsibilities. Not only that, you may assume that every school offers these fees — and that’s simply not the case.

The Traffic School Online Difference

At trafficschoolonline-dev.plume.co.uk/, we don't play games with our customers. Instead, we lay out our fees in a fair, upfront way. What you pay is what you pay, with no hidden fees that will come up during the registration process. We understand that when you take one of our courses to reduce the points on your license, you need a responsive company that will ensure that you get your records quickly and efficiently, removing the points from your license before you face any other penalties. Not only that, we want to offer a solid price that you can count on: no hidden costs that don't appear until you've already started the process. Your Google search for a Florida traffic school will be filled with false promises: "the cheapest online traffic school," "traffic school for just $6.95," and "the lowest-priced traffic courses online" are just a few of the promises that you'll find in the first page of results alone. Unfortunately, many of those are false promises that will fail to deliver the results — and the savings — you need. By choosing trafficschoolonline-dev.plume.co.uk/, you can rest assured that you're getting a high-quality online traffic school where the cost is given openly upfront.

The Pioneer of Defensive Driving Online & Online Traffic School

We didn’t invent traffic school. We just perfected it.

What if you could protect your driving record without leaving home? How could traffic schools be more accessible? Steve Soldis asked himself these questions and forever changed traffic school for the masses. Steve, CEO of Traffic School Online, received a ticket in 1996 on a Californian highway. To avoid points on his record and increased insurance rates, he opted for traffic school. Steve found out the nearest traffic school was over 30 miles away. He was then committed to making the traffic ticket experience more convenient. He originated the idea of an online traffic school as an alternative to an in-person class.

Steve’s idea gave drivers a new way to fight traffic tickets.

Who doesn’t like to save money, right? Your auto insurance may be one place to start. After all, it is often a regular expense on the monthly budget, and saving a bit of change can really add up over the long term. So, let’s explore 4 tips that can help you lower your auto insurance.

1. Driving Record:

The best way to be a great candidate for auto insurance savings is to be a good driver. Drivers who have low or zero points on their driving record enjoy lower rates. But what does the term “points” really mean? Every traffic violation conviction is assigned a certain number of points. The amount varies according to the severity of the violation as well as from state to state. For example, a parking violation may only get a driver 2 points on their record. Get convicted of a DUI and earn 8 points. Accumulate enough points and a driver’s license is suspended. Research shows that the point system works to accurately reflect the safety risk of a driver. If you want to save on your auto insurance rates, obey the law.

2. FICO Scores:

It seems unfair to factor in a driver’s credit history when it comes to evaluating their driving skills and safety risk for calculating insurance premiums. The reality is that there is a good reason for factoring this in. A good credit score doesn’t mean you are a better driver. It means you are a more trustworthy consumer. An auto insurance company is in the business of mitigating risk. They are not just interested in mitigating risk with the drivers they insure. They are also interested in mitigating risk among paying customers. The best rates are for consumers who practice the highest standards of paying their bills on time. Just like any household or business, an insurance company operates according to a budget. They are expecting X amount of dollars to arrive at a certain time. A company that does not have a reliable cash flow won’t be in business long. So, be a responsible consumer with a good credit score and save money on auto insurance.

3. Competition:

Many consumers loathe the tedium of shopping around for bids. But if you want to save money and get the best rates, you have to do the legwork of scoping out the competition. When you were interested in buying that car you want to insure, you didn’t just stroll into an auto dealer, point a vehicle out, and buy it on the spot, did you? It’s more likely that you visited several dealers, discussed purchase prices, and informed each salesperson of what the competition was offering. This resulted in getting the best deal on your automobile. It works the same way with your auto insurance. The next time your policy expires, shop around. And it doesn’t take nearly as long as shopping around for a car. In about ten minutes, from the comfort of your couch, even clothed in your PJs, you can get multiple quotes from auto insurance companies. A click of the mouse is like saying, “Take your best shot!” And you get to pick the winner.

4. Things Change:

If you have shopped around only to discover that your rates have increased, you may ask yourself, “What happened?” Upon investigation, you may realize that things have changed. All sorts of things change over time that affect auto insurance rates. You may have received a ticket that affected your driving record. Your credit score may have run afoul. Perhaps your household now has a driving teen. Relocation can land you in a new geographical area resulting in higher premiums. What can you do? The best option is to register with a traffic school that can deliver a safety training course your insurance provider will accept as proof that you are taking your driving and auto insurance responsibilities more seriously.

For penny-conscious consumers, the good news is that there are plenty of ways to save money on auto insurance. Even if you have made some mistakes, there is no need to feel doom and gloom. A certificate of completion from a traffic school can go a long way to lower the rates of higher-risk drivers or consumers. And even if you have done everything right and think you can’t squeeze another nickel of savings out of your rates, you might be in for a surprise when you realize that traffic school may save you a bit more!

Everyone knows about drunk driving — you see ads, campaigns, and PSAs everywhere about the evils of driving drunk. But what about drugs and their effect on drivers? For some reason, it’s incredibly rare to near unheard-of to see anything about drugged driving. It’s time to change that.

The Facts

The cold, hard facts are this: Driving while under the influence can be deadly, no matter what that influence is. Drugs are just as apt to impair or cloud your judgment as alcohol is, yet you rarely hear anything about it. Because of this, a lot of people seem to think it’s okay to drive while you’re high — ‘Oh, it’s just a little pot, I’ll be fine!’ seems to be a common state of mind.

In a 2014 survey, nearly 10 million people admitted to driving while under the influence of illicit drugs. 10 million! Stats from 2009 and 2010 show that around 18% of people killed in crashes had at least one drug in their systems, while 11% of drivers involved in fatal crashes also showed illicit drug use.

Sadly, while we have tests in place to check for alcohol use while driving, it’s not as easy to test for drugs during traffic stops. We simply don’t have the technology available yet, so we don’t have any way of knowing just how low those reported numbers are. People also tend to mix alcohol with drugs and driving, so if they’re getting pulled over for being drunk, no one’s testing for drugs either. There’s no telling how bad the danger is.

Why it’s a problem

Whether they’re illegal or prescription, drugs alter your perceptions and sense of reality. For instance:

Be safe

An obvious tip would be to never drive under the influence — this almost goes without saying. However, in some cases — such as a new prescription drug that you might not know all of the side effects of — it’s not always so simple to practice.

Remember — it doesn’t matter what the influence is. Driving under the influence of any substance is illegal, and oftentimes carries fatal consequences. Don’t let your friends and loved ones become just another statistic — help spread the awareness today.

Did you know you may have options for appealing a speeding ticket? Beating a speeding ticket, or other kind of traffic violation, may not seem like it would be of much consequence, but it can help you in the long run. Whether you’re trying to lower your insurance rates, or just want to keep your driving record clean, here are some tips to help you beat a traffic ticket. (Please note that this article assumes that you’ve only broken traffic laws and not violated other laws.)

Attitude:

From the moment you’re pulled over, you need to be in the mindset of preventing or fighting a ticket. That is not to say, however, that you should be fighting physically. You should never threaten the police or give them any reason to get angry with you. Turn off your car, turn on your interior lights, and keep your hands on your steering wheel. (Don’t get out of your car!) You want to take the tension out of the situation and make sure that everyone is comfortable, both you and the officer.

If you’re polite, you’re less likely to make an enemy. Once you’ve done what you’ve been asked to do and the officer has said his part, you can say yours. If you’re perfectly aware that you’ve broken the law, then admit it. Sometimes an officer won’t bother to ticket you if you let them know that you’re aware and won’t do it again. If you feel the need to plead your case, do so politely. Be sure you leave the scene politely and non-aggressively. If the officer who issued the ticket doesn’t remember you, that’s probably a good thing.

Still Have a Ticket and Want It Gone?

You have the right to appeal to the officer. If you can call the officer and arrange a time to meet, they’re generally willing to talk. Granted, it’s difficult to talk an officer out of a ticket after the fact since it didn’t work the first time, but you do have the right to try. Be kind, courteous, and polite, just like before, and know that the officer is in his right to drop the ticket or leave it standing.

If you don’t feel up to meeting the officer face to face, you can always write him a letter. Granted, this is a good idea even if you have met with him. The key to getting the officer to drop the ticket is to professionally make the ticket a bigger deal to you than it is to him. Be tenacious but not overbearing.

Of course, if the officer won’t listen to you, you can always contact the judge and/or prosecutor. At this point, the worst they can do is say “no”. Plead your case to them, but don’t be annoying about it. While persistence is good, obnoxious over-bearance will get you nowhere.

Heading to Court?

If the ticket goes all the way to court, you can still fight it. Follow all the rules of the court, and make the court employees’ jobs as easy as possible. Again, politeness will get you far here, as you need to be sure you’re in touch with the court. You don’t want to miss any deadlines or important dates.

Delay your trial for as long as you possibly can. Don’t lie to get the continuances (delays) but try to push your court date out as far as possible so that the officer has less of a chance of remembering you.

Can’t be Dropped?

If your ticket can’t be dropped for whatever reason, then the key is to keep it off your insurance and driving record. In this case, you should ask for alternative punishments. Traffic school is often the way to go in this situation, and if that’s what you choose, then you should choose America’s number one online traffic school at trafficschoolonline-dev.plume.co.uk/ to keep that ticket off your record.

In the United States, and on this blog, we spend a lot of time talking about the dangers of drunk driving, particularly around holidays like the Fourth of July and New Year’s, and with good reason – about one-third of total traffic fatalities involve alcohol impairment.

However as states have begun to legalize marijuana for medical or even recreational purposes in the last few years, driving while under the influence of marijuana is becoming an increasingly important topic.

It’s a common myth that driving under the influence of marijuana isn’t all that dangerous. But how does marijuana really affect the ability to drive safely?

Marijuana Use Impairs Driving Performance

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that marijuana-impaired drivers are sometimes able to “pull themselves together” to concentrate briefly on simple tasks, or may try to make up for their impairment by driving more slowly or cautiously, driving high is by no means safe.

According to the NHTSA, marijuana has been shown to impair driving performance significantly for 1 to 2 hours following use, and residual effects have been reported up to 24 hours after use. These impairments are moderate in low doses and severe with high doses, chronic use, and in combination with alcohol.

Reported impairments include:

Inability to concentrate and maintain attention
Difficulty performing divided-attention tasks
Reduced hand-eye coordination
Distortion of time and distance
Increased evaluation, decision, and reaction times
Sleepiness

Even a moderate impairment can prevent drivers from responding quickly to unexpected hazards and maintaining the high level of attention needed for safe driving.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which promotes the legalization of the responsible use of marijuana, recognizes this danger in its Principles of Responsible Use, arguing that:

“The responsible cannabis consumer does not operate a motor vehicle or other dangerous machinery while impaired by cannabis, nor (like other responsible citizens) while impaired by any other substance or condition, including some medicines and fatigue.”

Limited Data Available on Marijuana-Impaired Crashes and DUIs

We already have a wealth of information on how alcohol, drowsiness, and even distraction affect our risk of being in a crash, so it may seem surprising that researchers do not yet have a clear picture of how many crashes or DUI convictions involve marijuana.

Law enforcement, court systems, and researchers have significant challenges to overcome in obtaining and interpreting this information:

Standard field sobriety tests, which are 90% effective in identifying drunk drivers, only correctly identify 30% to 50% of marijuana-impaired drivers, according to the New York Times.
Evaluations by specially trained Drug Recognition Experts are accurate but must be completed after an arrest, not at the scene of a traffic stop.
Chemical tests of blood and urine are available but do not reliably predict how impaired a driver is. Drivers may test positive for marijuana days or even weeks after use.
Many law enforcement and court record-keeping systems do not include whether an impaired driver was affected by alcohol, drugs, or both. The NHTSA has strongly recommended that these systems be updated to provide for more accurate monitoring of DUI cases.

As detection methods and reporting policies become more accurate, we can expect our understanding of this issue to become much clearer.

Los Angeles is already testing out a saliva swab drug test that can be used at the time of a traffic stop. Officials hope that having a quick and effective method to detect the presence of drugs will deter people from getting behind the wheel while under the influence of any substance.

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While the data is limited, researchers are still studying the issue! Take a look at the findings at the links below.

A study by Columbia University released this past January found that the proportion of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana tripled from 1999 to 2010, from 4.2% to 12.2%. This may indicate that marijuana-impaired driving is playing an increased role in fatal crashes. The study is based on data from six states where toxicological testing is routinely performed on drivers involved in fatal car crashes.
In Washington, 25% more drivers tested positive for marijuana in 2013, the first full year after the state legalized the drug than in 2012. However, there was no overall rise in DUI arrests and no significant increase in crashes.
In Colorado, an increased proportion of drivers involved in fatal crashes tested positive for marijuana after 2009, when medical marijuana was legalized, than in the period before legalization. The study did not reveal whether the drivers were found to be impaired at the time of the crash, or whether they were at fault in the crash, so the results may only reflect an increase in use.

Curious about laws on marijuana and driving in your state? Check out NORML’s state-by-state list of drugged driving laws.

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