Auto Insurance Study: Pot in, Crashes Up
AP reports:
A recent insurance study links increased car crash claims to legalized recreational marijuana.
The Highway Loss Data Institute [HLDI], a leading insurance research group, said in study results released Thursday that collision claims in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon went up 2.7 percent in the years since legal recreational marijuana sales began when compared with surrounding states.
"We believe that the data is saying that crash risk has increased in these states and those crash risks are associated with the legalization of marijuana," AP quotes Matt Moore of HLDI.
"Insurance industry groups have been keeping a close watch on claims when auto accidents across the country began to go up in 2013 after more than a decade of steady decline," AP reports.
"Insurance companies found several possible factors at play in the spike that included distracted driving through texting or cellphone use, road construction, and an improved economy that has led to leisurely drives and more miles driven, as well as marijuana legalization," AP states.
