Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by JshWright 1742 days ago
Driving high is still driving impaired. The failure modes may be different, but that doesn't mean someone who is high is safe to drive.

I'm not sure what the point of your comment is though, as I don't think anyone is suggesting that these drivers will actually be high while driving. Rather, they are people that use marijuana recreationally and would test positive for THC, disqualifying them from many jobs (despite the fact that urine THC levels do not corelate with how "high" someone is).

1 comments

Driving high is like driving as a grandma.

You're hyper vigilant, looking everywhere, your reactions are delayed a little such as that of an 60 year old person, and you're definitely listening to speed "limit" as the maximum, and not as the average.

As an avid marijuana user here, no, this is not the narrative that should be spread. As others have said, weed makes you incredibly impaired, just in other ways.

You are slower to process inputs, you are less likely to consider threats or obstacles as dangerous, to an extent your ability to judge distances is hindered, you are much more easily distracted (highway hypnosis, for example, becomes a huge problem - especially with blinking lights and whatnot), your ability to focus is oftentimes next to zero, causing you to be distracted often by music or other passengers in the car.

Plus, driving slowly in and of itself is a hazard - the "speed rule" exists for a reason. If everyone is going 30 mph over the speed limit on a busy highway, you are more likely to cause an accident by going the posted speed limit than if you were to go the same speed as the rest of the traffic - even though it's technically illegal.

So please, do not use marijuana and drive. Stay at home and watch Money Heist and postmates a McFlurry from McDonalds or something.

When high, you are impaired and shouldn't be driving. Period.
I don't disagree but being high is not a singular, impaired state.
None of the states I've ever been, over the thousands of times I have partaken, with the maybe hundred different strains, with different percentages of indica/sativa, at different dosages, in different forms (flower vs. edible vs. whatever else), have ever been safe for me to operate a vehicle.

No, nobody is an exception. You are not superhuman.

Please stop normalizing this. This narrative makes it harder to change the minds of dissenters and legitimize legalization for those people that actually benefit from it.

Sorry, I don't agree. I don't think cannabis is just a drug for having fun. I'm open to scientific studies that show that car accidents increase but your experience is yours and mine is mine.

The people who have a problem with it aren't going to be able to stop legalization.

You shouldn't do it, I agree.

States with legal weed have seen accident numbers increase. The reasons why are more nuanced than that statement implies.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2021/06/21/crash-rate...

> I don't think cannabis is just a drug for having fun

Where did I even allude to this? In fact I implied the exact opposite in my last sentence.

Yes that third one is a huge problem.