Illicit drugs and driving: prevalence, beliefs and accident involvement among a cohort of current out-of-treatment drug users

Drug-driving behaviour among out-of-treatment dependent drug users has not been investigated while a theoretical perspective on the propensity of cert ain drug users to drive while impaired has not been suggested. This paper e xamines illicit drugs and driving behaviour and accident involvement among out-of-treatment current drug users. Psychological evidence of belief-based mechanisms to account for the decision to drive while impaired by drugs ar e provided. A total of 210 out-of-treatment current drug users were intervi ewed in a non-clinical setting by privileged access interviewers. Questionn aire measures were: current illicit drug use, severity of dependence, illic it drugs and driving behaviour, impaired and unimpaired accident involvemen t and beliefs and perceptions about the impairing effects of a number of il licit drugs. Analyses are restricted to participants who reported driving d uring the previous 12 months (n = 71). Fifty-eight participants (81.7%) rep orted driving immediately after consuming illicit drugs, primarily heroin a nd cannabis. Of these 41.4% (n = 24) had at least one road accident as a dr iver, 15 of whom (62.4%) reported accident involvement following recent dru g consumption. Belief-based results showed that participants who reported n ever driving after using illicit drugs perceived heroin, methadone and alco hol to be greater significance for accident risk and driving skills impairm ent than other drugs. Those drivers who reported drugs and driving behaviou r believed only alcohol to be significantly more impairing than other drugs . Findings indicated that illicit drugs and driving behaviour is common amo ng out-of-treatment drug users. Accident involvement among this cohort is c haracterised by the previous consumption of illicit substances. Differentia l beliefs about the effects of drugs on driving performance and accident ri sk were shown to be dependent upon frequency of drugs and driving behaviour . Results are discussed in terms of experiential factors and consistency th eories of attitude formation and change. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.