A paper published in 2017 in the American Journal of Public Health focused on the opioid crisis and drivers involved in fatal crashes. In 1995, only 1% of drivers who were killed in traffic accidents had opioid drugs in their systems. By 2015, that number had surged to 7%. The most common opioids in use were oxycodone, morphine, and codeine. Nearly 70% of those who tested positive for opioids also tested positive for other drugs. 30% also tested positive for alcohol. Mixing alcohol with opioids can increase sedation and increase the chances of an overdose.
WTVR reports on a Florida woman who drove into a concert, striking two people. Last Sunday, 63-year-old Catherine Allford drove her sports car into a crowd of people attending a concert in Port Charlotte, Florida.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrested Allford after she drove her luxury Spider Fiat into the crowd attending a concert at Harley Davidson on El Jobean Road. Allford drove over the guitarist’s foot in the incident. Employees of Harley Davidson said that after Allford hit a couple of people, she fled the scene, but got stuck in the dirt across the street.
She refused a breathalyzer test, but reportedly admitted to deputies that she had “taken too many pain pills.” She was arrested on charges of DUI, harming people, and causing property damage. In the car, police found $100,000 in a box wrapped in aluminum foil. They also stated that cash in $10,000 bundles fell from inside her dress as she stood.
No one was seriously injured in the incident.