NEVADA (KTNVO — Enjoying a socially-distanced Thanksgiving holiday is one way to help stay safe, but it's not just COVID-19 that you need to watch out for.
According to the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, so far this year the state has seen 252 deaths on its roadways. One of the main causes of these deadly crashes is impaired drivers.
Public Information Officer Andrew Bennett answers the question of marijuana's role in these DUI crashes -- if any -- and what needs to happen for the agency to reach its "zero fatalities" goal. Watch in the player above.
One question we asked was if the incidents of impairment were due to marijuana going up now that it's legal in Nevada. Here's what Bennett had to say:
This is a question we often receive...has [marijuana DUI] changed over the last three years? The answer is we still see the same amount of impaired driving-related fatalities, which is about 52%.
The most prevalent cause of impaired driving with a substance is a combination of alcohol and marijuana.
It's not just marijuana, it's not just alcohol. It's that polysubstance use between the two.
