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Drugged driving may impact accident risk

Minnesota residents have long known that drunk driving is a serious problem and puts too many innocent people in harm's way unnecessarily. While this is its own tragic reality, it is also a fact that drunk driving is not the only risk of its kind. People who choose to get behind the wheel of a car after they have smoked or consumed marijuana can also cause great harm to others. Even though Minnesota has not legalized the recreational use of this drug like some states have, some people still manage to obtain and use or consume it.

Anyone who may not necessarily believe that driving while under the influence of marijuana could be a problem should be aware of the results of a study recently released by the Highway Loss Data Institute. A team of researchers investigated claims filed after vehicle accidents in a variety of states including the first three states to pass laws that allowed marijuana to be used legally for recreational purposes - Oregon, Colorado and Washington.

The results provided a clear view of how the rate of insurance claims for accidents rose by 2.7 percent after only a couple of years of marijuana having been legalized in these three states. The study did include a comparison of data from states where pot was not legal along with adjustments for logical variances such as weather and driver demographics.

The reality of how dangerous drugged driving is as well as drunk driving may give Minnesota residents more confidence in reaching out to an attorney after a crash. This may offer them valuable help in seeking compensation.

Source: NBC29.com, "Insurance study ties legal pot to boost in car crash claims," Solomon Banda, June 21, 2017

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