Collisions Have Surged in States that Have Legalized Marijuana Recreationally
Two Reports Conclude Collisions are Up in These States
In 2018, a handful of states voted to legalize recreational marijuana use. A recent report from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) and Highway Safety (IIHS) claims that car accidents have increased in US states where marijuana has been legalized. The groups conducted two studies. The IIHS study took data from the collisions reported to insurance agencies. The HLDI study sourced their data from police reports, which includes cars uninsured in accidents. Both reports found that car accidents have increased by more than 5 percent in states that recently legalized marijuana.
In addition, HLDI found that collision claims per vehicle rose by 6 percent after Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington legalized marijuana. The study accounted for differences in the rated driver population, unemployment, weather, seasonality, insured vehicle fleet and mix of urban versus rural exposure.
The study conducted by IIHS looked at Oregon, Washington and Colorado. The IIHS looked at collision information from policy reports between 2012 and 2016, before and after retail sales in those states, and found a 5.2 percent increase in accidents. Researches compared Colorado with Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah and Washington with Idaho and Montana for the study.
While neither study draws a direct correlation between accidents and marijuana use, David Harkey President of the institutes calls it a “solid indicator” that marijuana is the cause of the increase in collisions in these states.
Testing for marijuana is complicated. A positive test for the drug could mean that the driver was intoxicated at any point three weeks prior to the accident. Marijuana is commonly used with substances like alcohol.
What does this mean for insurance agents?
As more states legalize marijuana, accident rates will continue to climb. This may lead to higher auto insurance rates in these states, and more drivers looking for competitive auto insurance rates. We may even see an increase in auto insurance interest.
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