State-by-State Recommendations to Improve Data on Drugged Drivers
Problem
What existing state-level documentation across the country could help substantiate policies and practices dealing with drugged driving?
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) was looking to do conduct an in-depth review of state statues, regulations, statements of policy, agency websites, guides, and any other related documents that might substantiate policies and practices dealing with drugged driving. This research was sought to help update previous AAAFTS reports on drugged driving.
Solution
NORC conducted a multi-level deep dive into state-level policy and existing documentation on Drugged Driving literature.
To ensure that the review process was conducted efficiently, NORC worked closely with the AAAFTS staff to develop a plan that clearly outlined each step and the key parameters that served as a guide for the process.
NORC then initiated the literature review process by conducting a Westlaw computer-assisted legal search to identify state legal records. This was followed by four additional searches:
- Identifying in-state literature and policies directly from state highway safety offices,
- Reviewing documents from the state department of transportation agencies,
- Searching websites and documents from each state police agency, and
- Identifying any court-level documents relating to drugged driving.
Result
Synthesized findings were presented in a final report and presentation to AAAFTS.
NORC systematically reviewed the existing literature to ascertain current policies and practices across each of the states and DC related to drugged (other than alcohol) driving. Specifically, NORC identified state statutes, regulations, statements of policy, agency websites, guides, and any other related documents that might substantiate policies and practices dealing with drugged driving. Drugged driving policies and other relevant information from state sources are now contained in one AAAFTS document entitled: "Advancing Drugged Driving Data at the State Level: Synthesis of Barriers and Expert Panel Recommendations" (March 2016) published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
