Running a small business often means wearing many hats: owner, manager, HR, and sometimes even driver. In all the hustle, one issue that’s easy to overlook is impaired driving by employees. While alcohol is a well-known culprit, marijuana is increasingly a serious safety concern, especially for employees on the road.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of work-related deaths in the U.S., accounting for more than 21,000 fatalities between 2011 and 2022.¹ In addition to fatalities, the cost of these accidents is astronomical. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in just one year, work-related crashes cost employers $39 billion – an average of $75,000 per nonfatal injury and $751,000 per death.¹

Marijuana adds to this risk. Studies show it impairs reaction time, decision-making, attention, and coordination—all essential for safe driving. A meta-analysis found that cannabis users had nearly twice the odds of being involved in a crash compared to sober drivers.²

And we see more and more people driving while impaired. Among seriously or fatally injured road users tested between 2020 and 2021, active THC was the most commonly detected substance at 25.1%, even slightly ahead of alcohol at 23.1%.³

Allowing (or failing to prevent) marijuana-impaired driving among employees, whether in company vehicles, delivering goods, or traveling between job sites, can have serious consequences for small businesses. It increases the risk of crashes and legal liability, drives up insurance and workers’ compensation costs, reduces productivity due to injuries or downtime, and can harm your reputation, potentially affecting customer trust and future contracts.

Small businesses can proactively safeguard against these risks by:

1. Establishing a clear drug-free workplace policy that explicitly addresses marijuana and driving. NDWA can help!
2. Educating employees about how marijuana impairs driving.
3. Training supervisors to spot signs of impairment on the job. NDWA offers trainings for supervisors!
4. Offering support services, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), for employees dealing with substance use.
5. Encouraging safe alternatives, like ride-share reimbursements.

The evidence is clear: employees driving under the influence of marijuana significantly elevate crash risk, and the costs associated with workplace motor vehicle crashes have grown into the tens of billions annually. Small businesses simply can't afford to overlook this issue. Creating a safety-driven workplace is not just responsible; it's essential.

Citations:

1. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). (2024, May 16). About motor vehicle safety at work. CDC.
   1. Connor, J. P., Stjepanović, D., Le Foll, B., Hoch, E., Budney, A. J., & Hall, W. D. (2021). Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 7(1), 16.
   1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2022). Drug and alcohol prevalence in seriously and fatally injured road users before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Report No. DOT HS 813 325.

Sources:

Drug-Impaired Driving | NHTSA. (n.d.). NHTSA. https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drug-impaired-driving

*Bonus* Check out Drug Free America Foundation’s video on marijuana-impaired driving here.