the role
of drugs

in fatal
accidents

THEY ARE cases that
could drive a researcher to
tears.

Simon Fraser University
kinesiology student Debbie
Pollard has known that feeling
while gathering data on recent
fatal motor vehicle accidents in
B.C., searching for clues about
the role of drugs in fatal crashes,

Pollard is finishing up a year-
long study on drugs and fata! ac-
cidents in conjunction with the
Coroner’s office, the RCMP
forensic lab and the provincial
government CounterAttack pro-
gram. Her involvement as 2 co-op
student began in September with
the task of screening the blood of
fatally-injured drivers for both
alcohol and drugs, using data
from the Coroner’s Service, the
Motor Vehicle Branch and the
RCMP. Blood samples taken from
fatally-injured drivers are normal-
ly examined for alcohol but not
necessarily for drug content.

“*We've established a history on
every fatal accident driver since
November of 1990,”" says the stu-
dent, who works in the RCMP’s
toxicology lab in Vancouver. Fac-
tors such as age, time of day and
circumstances surrounding  acci-
dents are also being considered, as
well as driving records, including
the number of speeding tickets
and other common infractions, to
determine whether such incidents
are potential predictors of acci-
dents.

Pollard is now in the process of
analyzing the data after spending
the past several months looking
for both prescription and illegal
drug content in the nearly 200
blood samples.

“We're hoping to get a clear
picture of how drugs other than
alcohol affect the rate of fatal
traffic accidents,’’ says Pollard.
“What we find may suggest we
need to be changing laws. All of
these cases are sad stories.’’

The study winds down on the
Start-up of the Christmas season
CounterAttack campaign. Pollard
is hopeful that the results will play
a role in advancing such issues as
mandatory blood-testing, issues
that are often raised during the
routine campaigns.

Pollard, 24, has a bachelor of
science degree and is working on a
second in kinesiology. Her future
plans are to go tu medical school.
While the co-op job is providing
lab and analytical experience,
Pollard was also attracted by the
positive effects the findings coulc
bring.

“If what we find does anythinj
to stop these tragedies,’’ she says
‘it will have been time well

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