Obviously if the percentage of drivers testing positive for marijuana went up, but the number of fatal accidents stayed the same, then we would just be seeing a demographic shift, but no possible causal link.
The first half of the article doesn't address this, which left me wondering how real the effect was. However, near the end: "The 2013-16 period saw a 40 percent increase in the number of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado, from 627 to 880"
That kind of move is at least worthy of further scrutiny.
That's still quite a leap, considering the variability of traffic accident statistics. For example a good winter storm can cause hundreds of (non-fatal) accidents on its own, and storm patterns are highly inconsistent from year to year. I mean, imagine what kind of "scary link" you could find by looking at any changes made in the state of Louisiana in 2005 and forgetting to account for Hurricane Katrina.
Has there been an increase in tourism? Specifically, folks from neighboring states coming to buy marijuana?
Does it correlate with an increasing snapchat-using demographic reaching driving age? Another CDOT official believes distracted driving is causing the surge:
The first half of the article doesn't address this, which left me wondering how real the effect was. However, near the end: "The 2013-16 period saw a 40 percent increase in the number of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado, from 627 to 880"
That kind of move is at least worthy of further scrutiny.