Intoxicated drivers pose a significant threat to anyone on the road in Florida. Unfortunately, it’s not just drunk drivers whose impairment can cause serious car accidents, life-threatening injuries and even death. Drugged drivers are becoming all too common in the Sunshine State.
The good news is that Florida law enforcement officers are cracking down on drugged driving. There’s also new technology that can help stop some impaired drivers when they try to get behind the wheel. Marijuana breathalyzers currently being tested across the country may give police a new tool to detect whether a driver is under the influence of pot.
Compensation for Drugged Driving Accidents
Florida law makes it a crime to operate a car, truck or other vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol. A person injured in a car crash caused by an intoxicated driver has the right to seek compensation from the driver. That includes money damages for medical bills, property damage, missed wages during recovery and pain, suffering and emotional distress.
A driver is considered legally intoxicated if his or her blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08 percent or more. Cops typically use breath, blood or chemical tests to measure the BAC of a driver suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Drugged driving can be more difficult to prove. There’s currently no precise measure to gauge a person’s level of drug impairment. Just because a person has various drugs in his or her blood stream at the time of a collision doesn’t necessarily mean that the driver was actually intoxicated. Instead, cops and courts must rely on a variety of circumstantial evidence — the nature of the accident, the driver’s behavior after the crash, witness testimony, etc.— to prove intoxication.
That’s why it’s critical that a person injured in a suspected drugged driving accident in Central Florida consult an experienced The Villages accident attorney.
How the New Breathalyzer Works
The new marijuana breathalyzer could go a long way in both preventing and proving drugged driving. The device is designed to test a person’s Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that makes people intoxicated or “high.” Users blow into the device, like a BAC breathalyzer.
The company developing the technology says it can determine whether a person has smoked or ingested marijuana within that last two hours. The breathalyzer is on the verge of being rolled out for use in actual sobriety tests.
Contact a The Villages Accident Attorney Today
The Central Florida personal injury attorneys at the Babiarz Law Firm represent people in The Villages and across the state who have been injured in a wide range of accidents, including those caused by drugged drivers. Contact us to speak with an attorney today.
