The winter is upon us. I don’t know if you are like me, but I’m not the biggest fan of the cold, sleet and snow. Winter can be hard on the body, hard on the soul and especially hard on your ability to drive. Automobiles become different animals when temperatures dip: batteries die, wipers streak, tires slide and heaters blast. Add holiday celebrations, slippery roads and deer running wild and you have an optimal environment for danger every time you start your car.

And as we enter the winter season we are reminded of another sad truth courtesy of the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration: drugged drivers! Yes, that’s drugged, not drunk drivers. In the first ever study testing drivers killed in highway crashes, for drugs a whopping 18% had illicit or legal drugs in their system. This is not suggesting that drug-use was necessarily the cause of the crash, but rather nearly 1 in 5 driver deaths had some type of drug in their system. The study also showed that the trend was growing, from 13% in 2005 to 18% in 2008.

So what does it mean? My first takeaway is that drug use, both legal and illegal is increasing in American society and across all demographic categories. Second, drivers on drugs populate our roadways and the smart driver is a defensive driver. One can’t assume that your fellow motorists will act in a logical manner. When you are driving you must be focused and prepared for any and all possibilities; even those that don’t make sense.

You need to keep the windows defrosted, washer fluid full, your hands on the wheel, cell phone away from your ear, eyes on the road and watch out for the “other guy”.  Because when someone does something stupid and you ask the rhetorical question, “Is that guy on drugs?” the answer just might be YES!