Synergism (Continued)
While many drugs create synergistic effects
with alcohol, they can also have similar effects with other drugs. The animation
above involved a pickup traveling over the speed limit crossing into oncomming
traffic and impacting a car head-on. The driver of the pickup was found to be
under the influence of three controlled substances. The car slowed to 15 to
20 mph while the driver of the pickup failed to take any evasive action. Vehicle
speeds were determined by analytical methods and by an ECM (located in the pickup).
An ECM is an electronic module that records airbag pre-deployment data. The
accident reconstructionists report states that it is his opinion that the pickup
driver was exceeding the speed limit and failed to maintain a single lane of
traffic was due to him being under the influence of controlled substances.
