As an experienced Tennessee auto accident attorney I can tell you that anytime police take someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs off the street it’s a good time. Local Kingsport Tennessee media sources reported on just such a situation with the arrest of a 45-year-old woman. When Police arrived at a local gas mart they found the woman laying on the front seat of her car, which was blocking the entrance in a semi-conscious state, with her legs hanging out of the window.

When she was being booked for DUI, in her defense, she told police that the only drugs they would find in her system were Xanax, Lortab and Phenergan. Not exactly a valid defense but at least she was honest. The good thing here is that Kingsport Police got her and her vehicle off the street and she didn’t kill anyone.

The principal concern regarding drugged driving is that driving under the influence of any drug that acts on the brain could impair one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgment. Drugged driving is a public health concern because it puts not only the driver at risk, but also passengers and others who share the road.

Despite these acknowledged concerns, drugged driving laws have lagged behind alcohol legislation, in part because of limitations in the current technology for determining drug levels, and resulting impairment. For alcohol, detection of its blood concentration (BAC) is relatively simple and concentrations greater than .08% have been shown to impair driving performance. Thus, 0.08% is the legal limit in this country. For illicit drugs, there is no agreed upon limit for which impairment has been reliably demonstrated. And determining current drug levels can be difficult, since some drugs linger in the body for a period of days or weeks after initial ingestion.

Some states (Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin), have passed “per se” laws—in which it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle if there is any detectable level of a prohibited drug, or its metabolites, in the driver’s blood. Other state laws define “drugged driving” as driving when a drug “renders the driver incapable of driving safely” or “causes the driver to be impaired.”

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash caused by a drugged driver you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.