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SALT LAKE CITY — Getting drunk drivers off the road with sobriety checks has made a big difference in reducing alcohol-related crashes. To perform those same checks with drug-impaired drivers, the state calls on more than 150 drug recognition experts or DREs.
"We get to a scene, and we don't smell alcohol, we may not suspect it," said Utah Highway Patrol Capt. Steve Winward, who oversees the DUI squad and DRE program. "But, if you do a blood draw, we may discover there is marijuana in the system."
Currently, there are 155 drug recognition experts stationed throughout Utah working for various law enforcement agencies for that kind of case.
Testing for drug-impairment
Field sobriety tests start off the same way they would for an alcohol-impaired driver.
The officer checks to see whether the eyes are bouncing around, whether the subject can walk steadily and whether or not the person in question has a reasonable comprehension of time.
"If they're on a depressant, that's going to slow everything down," Winward said. "They may go for a minute when they've estimated they've gone for 30 seconds."
After they determine the person is impaired, officers will do additional testing at the office, checking blood pressure, pulse rate and assess their eyes in different lighting conditions.
A recent study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows prescription drugs turning up more often in blood tests following crashes. The trend holds in Utah, growing from 25 drug-positive fatalities a decade ago, a low of 12 in 2008, and a high of 53 such deaths in 2013.
National and state researchers know a lot about the link between alcohol, driving and risk, but there is still much to learn about how prescription and over-the-counter medicines affect highway safety.
Last year, the Utah Highway Patrol conducted 450 DRE evaluations. The UHP is working on training more officers across the state in those skills.
One family's story
A national survey shows drunk driving is down nearly a third in the last seven years, but during that same time, motorists with prescription drugs in their system rose significantly.
Randy and Tena Rummage expected many years with their children and grandchildren in Utah. He moved from North Carolina to Utah County ahead of his wife in September 2013 to start a new job.
Mid-afternoon on Dec. 15, he left church in Springville. As he drove through the Main Street intersection, his car was broadsided by a car driven by 48-year-old Bryan Long, killing Randy Rummage instantly.
As the family grieved and Tena Rummage made plans to travel to Utah, the family learned that Long had been high on Lortab.
"Our first thought was that doesn't happen to us; that happens to other people," Tena Rummage said. "To hear that it was from someone who made a bad choice … and it could've been prevented," made the loss even tougher.
In the months that followed, Randy Rummage's daughter Brooke Simpson repeatedly heard prescription drug abuse messages on KSL.
"I would just hear it over and over and over," she said. "It made me stop and think, sadly, this is my dad's story. This is our family's story. This is what took our dad."
She decided their family would share her father's death in a DUI crash to make a difference, so she contacted Zero Fatalities.
"To use his story as a lesson, as a message for others," Simpson said was the motivation behind the decision, "to hopefully spare another family of having to go through the tragic heartache that we go through every day."
As they learned more and shared their story with Zero Fatalities, they discovered a growing problem across the country: More and more Americans are abusing prescription drugs like illegal drugs.
"They are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous because of the lackadaisical attitude society has towards them," Simpson said.
Sharing their story has also had a healing effect for the family too, according to Simpson.
To help keep prescription drugs off the streets and out of the wrong hands, visit useonlyasdirected.org. There you can find drop boxes across the state to dispose of unused and expired medications.
If you have any questions about how a prescription drug will affect your body, talk to your doctor and don't drive until you know how the drug will affect you.
