Driving High: The Shocking Link to Fatal Florida Car Crashes [New Study]

By David B. Pittman, Esq. — Founder, Pittman Law Firm, P.L. | Last updated May 12, 2026

A new study out of Wright State University tracked 246 deceased drivers over six years and found that roughly 42% had active THC in their blood at the time of a fatal crash. The average concentration was around 30.7 ng/mL — six times the upper end of limits a handful of states have written into statute. The number did not move much when cannabis went from illegal to legal. That is the public-health story. The civil-side legal story is the one I want to walk through here, because when a client walks into our office with a police report noting cannabis at the scene, the questions they need answered are not about headlines. They want to know what it means for their case.

A new study out of Wright State University tracked 246 deceased drivers over six years and found that roughly 42% of them had active THC in their blood at the time of the fatal crash. The legal story sits underneath it, and it is the story I want to walk you through here.

What Florida law actually says about impaired-driver crashes

Florida does not have a written THC-per-milliliter limit for driving the way it has 0.08% for alcohol. Our DUI statute treats marijuana impairment as a behavior-and-evidence question, not a number-on-a-meter question. That cuts both ways for an injured client.

The civil side is what matters when you are hurt and trying to recover medical bills and lost income. A few statutes do most of the work in a case like this:

• §768.81, FL Stat. — modified comparative negligence. Florida changed the rule in 2023. If a jury finds you 50% or more at fault, you recover nothing. If you are 49% or less at fault, your damages are reduced by your share. In an impaired-driver crash, the impaired driver almost always carries the lion’s share, but the defense will still try to push percentage points onto you. Read the statute itself at leg.state.fl.us.
• §95.11(4)(a), FL Stat. — two-year statute of limitations. Before the 2023 reform, you had four years to file. Now it is two. We have already seen good cases die because someone waited eighteen months and then started shopping for a lawyer. Full statute at leg.state.fl.us.
• §627.736, FL Stat. — PIP, the $10,000 no-fault medical bucket. Florida is still a no-fault state for car accidents. Your own auto policy pays the first $10,000 in medical bills regardless of who caused the crash. To pursue the at-fault driver directly, you have to meet the serious-injury threshold or another statutory exception. Statute: leg.state.fl.us.
• §627.727, FL Stat. — uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. If the at-fault driver was uninsured or carried only the state minimum, your own UM coverage may be the real source of recovery. Many people do not realize they have it. Statute: leg.state.fl.us.
• §316.066, FL Stat. — crash-report requirement. Any crash in Florida with injury, death, or roughly $500-plus in property damage has to be reported. That report is the first piece of paper we ask for. Statute: leg.state.fl.us.

None of those statutes mention marijuana by name. That is the point. Florida treats your case as a negligence case first; the impaired-driver fact becomes one of the strongest pieces of evidence inside that case rather than its own separate cause of action.

Four impaired-driver patterns we see in our practice

I will lay out the four patterns we run into most often in our office on a high-driver case. Recognizing which one you are in shapes how the case gets worked.

• Scenario 1: Documented THC in the at-fault driver’s blood. The driver was hospitalized after the crash and a blood draw shows active delta-9-THC. This is the cleanest fact pattern. We pull the medical records under the proper legal channel and the impairment is baked in.
• Scenario 2: Driver charged with DUI at the scene. The arresting deputy reports field-sobriety failure plus admitted use. No blood test yet, but the charging document and any later toxicology become part of the civil file. We monitor the criminal docket and use what comes out of it.
• Scenario 3: Smell of cannabis on the report, no further testing. The crash report mentions an odor or the driver admitted to recent use, but nobody ordered a blood draw. This is the most common, and the most fragile. We have to corroborate fast — witness statements, video from a nearby business, dispatch audio — before memories fade.
• Scenario 4: Combined cannabis-and-alcohol case. The deceased-driver data shows the combined-substance share of fatalities has roughly doubled in recent years. When both show up in the same toxicology, the impairment argument becomes very hard for the defense to walk away from.

The thread connecting all four is the same. The driver’s impairment is not a moral story we tell the jury; it is a documented fact we attach to specific statutes and specific medical records. The cases that go sideways are the ones where the impairment was real but nobody preserved the evidence.

What makes impaired-driver claims harder to win than they look

People assume a high-driver case is automatic. It is not. Three practical complications come up over and over again on the I-75 corridor through Lee and Collier Counties and along US-41 / Tamiami Trail.

Toxicology is not automatic. Unlike a breathalyzer at a DUI stop, a blood draw after a crash often only happens if the driver is hospitalized or the deputy has a specific reason to ask for one. If the at-fault driver walks away from the scene and refuses, you may never get a number. We work around that with circumstantial proof, but it is harder.

Defense witnesses will minimize the level. Once toxicology is in the record, the defense often hires a pharmacology witness to argue the THC number does not equate to impairment at the moment of impact. The science on cannabis half-life and behavioral impairment is genuinely messier than it is for alcohol, and a defense witness will lean on that mess.

Comparative-negligence pressure. Even when the other driver was clearly high, the defense will try to assign you some percentage of fault — you were going a few miles per hour over the limit, you were in the left lane, your turn signal was on a second late. Under the 2023 modified-comparative-negligence amendment to §768.81, every percentage point matters. Cross the 50% line and recovery is zero. That is why we document early and carefully.

There is also a practical Southwest Florida reality. A lot of our crash work happens at intersections like Bonita Beach Road and Old 41 in Bonita Springs, the Daniels Parkway and Six Mile Cypress area in Fort Myers, and the Vanderbilt Beach Road corridor in Naples. Each one has its own traffic patterns, its own line-of-sight problems, and its own usual defense playbook from the carriers who insure that stretch of road. A blanket impaired-driving template does not work. Local detail does.

The US-41 rear-end claim behind this

A man called our office a few years back after a rear-end crash on US-41. He had been to two larger firms before us. Both had passed on the case. Both told him, in slightly different words, that his injuries were too small — persistent soft-tissue pain, neck and lower back, the kind of injury that does not show up on an MRI as a dramatic image but that nonetheless took the gym, his weekend yard work, and most of his sleep away from him for months.

He was referred to us by two separate physicians, independently. Both told him the same thing: this is a firm that will work the case the same way regardless of size. That is the part I want to emphasize. We do not run a quota model. We do not turn people away because the file does not match a target number.

We did not push him toward any treatment he did not need; we made sure the treatment he was actually getting was on the record. When we sat down with the carrier, we did not have to argue about what his recovery looked like. We had a paper trail.

The result was a fair and dignified settlement — not a headline number, but the right number for the injury he had actually suffered. He went back to his life with his bills paid and his recovery complete. That case is one of the reasons we keep saying, on every call: there is no such thing as a small injury when it affects a person’s quality of life.

What to do if you were hit by a driver you suspect was high

This is the action list I give clients on the first call. None of it is generic; each step is here because skipping it has hurt a real case in our office.

• Tell the responding deputy or trooper, in plain words, what you observed. If you saw the driver fumble, smelled cannabis, watched them swerve before impact — say it on scene and ask that it be included in the crash report under §316.066, FL Stat. That sentence in the narrative is gold months later.
• Get medical attention the same day. Not next week. Florida PIP under §627.736 only covers care sought within fourteen days of the crash, and gaps in treatment are the first thing a defense adjuster will point to.
• Save the scene. Photographs of skid marks, vehicle damage, the position of the other driver’s car, any open containers or paraphernalia visible in plain view. Take the photos before the tow truck arrives if you can do it safely.
• Ask about a blood draw if the other driver is hospitalized. You cannot order one, but a lawyer can subpoena hospital records if a draw was done as part of treatment. Time matters; toxicology degrades.
• Pull your own auto policy and look at UM/UIM under §627.727. If the at-fault driver is uninsured or under-covered, your own UM is the recovery source. People are routinely surprised to learn they already paid for the coverage that will end up paying them.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s carrier without counsel. Their adjuster is paid to lower the number, not to be fair. Politely decline and call us first.
• Calendar the two-year date. §95.11(4)(a) cut the negligence statute of limitations from four years to two. Put the two-year date on your phone the week the crash happens.

None of these steps require you to make a legal judgment. They protect the facts so that a legal judgment can be made later by someone who does this for a living.

Key Takeaways

• Roughly 42% of deceased drivers in a recent six-year Wright State study had active THC in their blood, with average concentrations around 30.7 ng/mL — six times the upper limit set by the handful of states that have written THC-per-milliliter limits into their DUI law.
• Florida treats your case as a negligence case first. Impairment is powerful evidence inside that case, not a separate cause of action.
• Florida cut the statute of limitations for most negligence claims from four years to two under §95.11(4)(a), FL Stat., effective March 24, 2023. Waiting is the single most common reason a real case dies.
• Under the 2023 amendment to §768.81, FL Stat., a plaintiff found 50% or more at fault recovers nothing. Documenting your own conduct carefully matters even when the other driver was obviously impaired.
• Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage under §627.727, FL Stat. is often the real source of recovery when the at-fault driver carried minimum limits or no coverage. Pull your declarations page before you call us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. If I was hit by a driver who was high on marijuana, does that automatically mean my case is stronger?
It usually helps, but the toxicology has to actually be in the record. A crash report that notes the smell of marijuana is not the same as a blood test showing active THC. We work with the investigating agency, the hospital records, and any blood draw to pin down whether impairment is documented. Once it is, that fact carries weight with adjusters and with a Lee or Collier County jury.

Q2. Florida is a no-fault state for car accidents. Does that change anything when the at-fault driver was high?
Florida’s PIP system under §627.736, FL Stat. handles the first $10,000 of medical bills no matter who caused the crash. To step outside PIP and pursue the at-fault driver directly, you have to meet the serious-injury threshold or qualify under another exception. Impairment does not bypass that threshold, but it strengthens the underlying negligence and bad-conduct argument once you do step outside PIP.

Q3. How long do I have to file a claim after a crash with an impaired driver in Florida?
Two years from the date of the crash for most negligence claims under §95.11(4)(a), FL Stat. That window was four years before the 2023 reform and is now two. Waiting is the single most common reason a viable case becomes a dead case. Call sooner rather than later.

Q4. What if the impaired driver had no insurance or barely any?
This is why we ask about your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on the first call. Under §627.727, FL Stat., your UM coverage can step in when the at-fault driver cannot pay the damages you are owed. Many Floridians have UM on their own policy and do not realize they can use it against an impaired driver who carried only the state minimum.

Q5. I have soft-tissue injuries from a crash with a high driver. Two larger firms told me my case was too small. Should I just give up?
No. We hear this often and it is one of the reasons doctors refer clients to us. There is no such thing as a small injury when it keeps you out of work, out of the gym, or out of your normal life. We work the case the same way regardless of size: coordinate medical care, document the recovery, and pursue a fair and dignified result with the carrier.

If you were hit by an impaired driver, call us

If you or someone in your family was injured in a Southwest Florida crash and you have any reason to believe the other driver was high, on alcohol, or both, please call our office before you talk to their insurance company. The consultation is free, and we work on a contingency basis — there is no fee unless we recover for you.

Pittman Law Firm, P.L. — 239-992-8259
Windsor Place, 3525 Bonita Beach Rd, Suite 107, Bonita Springs, FL 34134

About the Author

Personal injury law has been David B. Pittman, Esq.’s focus across Southwest Florida for more than thirty years, with a sustained focus on serious-injury auto and complex-liability cases. He founded Pittman Law Firm, P.L. and remains its lead attorney. The firm represents injured clients across Lee and Collier Counties, from the firm’s main office at Windsor Place on Bonita Beach Road through Fort Myers, Naples, Estero, Cape Coral, and Lehigh Acres.

From The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina to the University of South Carolina School of Law, David’s preparation has been deliberate. Martindale-Hubbell rates him AV-Preeminent; he is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

David has held a Florida real estate broker license for twenty-five years, a credential that shapes how the firm reads the property side of premises cases. The firm handles personal injury cases across Lee and Collier Counties, serving Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Naples, Cape Coral, Estero, and Lehigh Acres, with offices at Windsor Place in Bonita Springs (main) and Fort Myers (satellite). Call 239-992-8259 for a free consultation.

The information on this page is offered for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pittman Law Firm, P.L. Every case turns on its own facts. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.