One-quarter of Finnish youths know a drug-driver

According to a new study commissioned by Finland’s Road Safety Council and conducted by polling firm Kantar TNS, about 25% of Finnish youths between the ages of 15 and 20 said they knew somebody who had committed a drug-driving offence.

The survey showed that drugs were playing a larger role in young people’s lives. Laura Loikkanen, a planner with the Road Safety Council, said that the increasing role of drugs was also evident on the country’s roads.

She stated that the survey results showed that exposure to drug use is becoming increasingly prevalent in the daily lives of young adults. She continued: “That’s why it can be seen on the roads. It’s always a very big risk factor to drive while under the influence. It doesn’t matter what drug you’re on – you have no business being on the roads in that condition,” Loikkanen said.

According to accident data, approximately one-third of traffic incidents involving an impaired driver implicated a driver who had used drugs as well as alcohol. Over the past ten years, the number of inebriated or impaired drivers using either prescription or illegal drugs has doubled, and Loikkanen said that the trend appears to be growing.

The survey found that even though drug use among youths appears to be more common than in the recent past, youths have a negative view of driving while impaired. About 94% of the survey respondents viewed drug-driving and drink-driving as ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ infractions of the country’s driving laws.

According to data compiled by the Road Safety Council, impaired drivers between the ages of 15 and 24 were responsible for more than a third of drug- or drink-driving accidents in the country.