Driving While Impaired: It Is More Than DUI
Pennsylvania is now participating in the ARIDE efforts designed to help officers better detect drivers impaired by prescription or illicit drug use and help curb accidents and injuries.


Millersburg, PA, February 20, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Every day, Pennsylvania law enforcement officers place a high priority on enforcement of the Commonwealth's laws against drunk driving. Now, thanks to new and specialized training, law enforcement is raising the profile of driving while impaired by drugs, a crime that last year accounted for more than 2,100 crashes in Pennsylvania.

Detecting Impairment

Pennsylvania is now participating in the ARIDE (Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement) efforts designed to help officers better detect drivers impaired by prescription or illicit drug use.

In 2008, more than 53,000 people were arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) last year; more than 8,500 of those were ticketed for drug impairment offenses.

The ARIDE training is designed to combat the dangers of drug impaired drivers. Officers undergo a 16-hour training course taught by certified drug-recognition experts. The training enables officers to more readily recognize specific indicators of drug use in drivers.
There are now approximately 400-500 ARIDE-trained officers in Pennsylvania, in both State Police and municipal forces. The officers chosen for ARIDE have a demonstrated ability to administer the basic field tests associated with determining sobriety.

Tackling a Significant Problem

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than 50 percent of Americans identified themselves as users of alcohol. An additional 20 million people (eight percent) described themselves as illicit drug users, meaning they had used drugs within the past month. There are additional people who use prescribed drugs in unintended ways or in prescribed ways that require the user to abstain from driving.

The NSDUH research also indicated that 13 percent of adults and teenagers admitted to having driven under the influence of alcohol in the past year; more than four percent admitted to driving under the influence of an illicit drug in the past 12 months.

Article provided by Shaffer & Engle Law Offices, LLC
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