Imagine if you had to tell a family that their child was never coming home again...because a driver had a few too many drinks and they were too lazy to get a taxi? How would you feel if it was your child? Your brother, your parent, your best friend? Now imagine that you're the one who had a few drinks and thought...Home isn't too far. I'll make it without getting busted. While on the back streets worrying if the booze bus will catch you, you hit someone. How do you live with that for the rest of your life?Trait anger as a predictor of dangerous driving behaviour amongst people who use methamphetamine
“Methamphetamine is now the most common illicit substance detected among drivers injured or killed due to road trauma in Australia
Drivers affected by (meth)amphetamine are five times more likely to be killed, and over 6-times more likely to be injured in a traffic crash; more than double the risk reported for common impairing drugs such as benzodiazepines Perhaps unsurprisingly, people who use methamphetamine are also overrepresented in road trauma incidents requiring emergency care. Amphetamine-intoxicated drivers are up to 19 times more likely to be deemed responsible (culpable) for a motor vehicle collision compared to non-drug users, and they are significantly more likely to die as a result
Despite a reduction in self-reported use (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024) objectively, methamphetamine consumption in Australia continues to rise. Consequently, Australia now has one of the highest documented rates of methamphetamine use per capita, and the highest global age-standardised prevalence of (meth)amphetamine dependence.”
Conversely, low-to-moderate doses of methamphetamine can improve select, unidimensional psychomotor skills ostensibly related to driving, such as attention and perceptual processing speed however, this limited beneficial effect appears to be extinguished (and even maladaptive) at higher doses or during complex tasks or those requiring multi-tasking .
Negative emotionality and heightened levels of aggression are a pervasive, if largely anecdotal observation of individuals who consume methamphetamine. Individuals who consume methamphetamine cite elevated levels of self-reported aggression compared to drug-free controls.
Key Take-aways
- Methamphetamine is increasingly implicated in serious road-traffic incidents.
- Examining psychosocial factors may help identify predictors of dangerous driving behaviour.
- Licensed individuals who report predominant methamphetamine use were recruited.
- Trait Anger strongly and positively predicted dangerous driving behaviour in this cohort.
- Stable negative-emotional factors may increase harm through situational reactivity.
(Source: Science Direct)
