How Legalization of Marijuana Could Affect Traffic Accidents In Canada

Insurance companies always seek to discover who should be held accountable for a given accident. Statistics show that negligent drivers create the sort of situation that triggers occurrence of a collision.

Side effects of marijuana that increase the likelihood for a driver to demonstrate negligent behavior.

Fatigue and drowsiness can lead to diminished awareness of the surroundings. A drive under the influence of marijuana might fail to notice someone that is crossing the street.

The driver’s slower reaction time can increase the chance that the person at the wheel would not stop or turn in time, if an object were to appear on the road. That would mean that the same driver would almost certainly hit the unexpected object.

The driver has trouble concentrating. That would make it hard for the same person to focus on important aspects of safe driving, such as remaining at a reasonable speed and staying on the right side of the road. Some drivers find it hard to remembers things, or become rather anxious, after using marijuana. Those same drivers would then be expected to make rather erratic moves, while traveling down the road. Such erratic moves could put other drivers at risk.

What happens when the side effect wears off?

A driver’s increased awareness of his or her surroundings could lead to some troublesome consequences. As the driver notes a change in the surrounding environment, he or she might view that as a distraction. A distracted driver is a danger on the road.

When the side effects wear off the driver’s euphoria wears off. That could trigger development of a state of depression. A depressed driver might not always be aware of what other drivers are doing.

What can be done to punish those that are DWI, after using marijuana?

Insurance companies must place in their policy a clause that warns about higher premiums for any policy holder that has been charged with getting behind the wheel while remaining high on marijuana’s powerful ingredients.

There needs to be harsh punishment of those that are found DWI after using that powerful and euphoria-inducing substance. The punishment should be as severe as the punishments meted out to those that drive after having a large amount of alcohol. In addition, if someone gets injured in an accident that was caused by one of marijuana’s side effects, the responsible driver should get hit with both compensatory and punitive damages. However, having legal representation by personal injury lawyer in Leamington becomes important.