Making sure that the road are safe is an important role for the Department of Transportation (DOT). From making sure that bridges and roads are in good repair to making sure that there are no impaired drivers on the road, DOT drug and alcohol test training is especially important. From understanding how to administer a field sobriety test to knowing the proper way to interpret urine drug test results, there are many specifics that are needed if we want to have safe roads.

Unfortunately, we live in a time when drug and alcohol addiction is a real threat. With the latest news that more and more states are legalizing marijuana, in fact, there are many DOT drug and alcohol test training guidelines that are continuing to expand.

Have You Ever Been Pulled Over for a Drunk Driving Offense?
As urine and hair follicle tests continue to more and more detailed and accurate, there is a hope that drug and alcohol tests can help determine which drivers need to be kept off the roads. This is good news as there is a threat of more people who are on the road while they are chemically impaired. For instance, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This fact is based on the fact that 22.2 million people have used this drug in the past month. Every time that one of these impaired drivers gets on the road they put all of us in danger.

In addition to the risks caused by impaired drivers, there are also many times when workers also put the others at their jobs at risk. In fact, more than 9.5 million urine drug tests were positive in the U.S. workforce in just the year 2015 alone. Consider some of these facts and figures about the drug and alcohol testing industry and the impact that it has on the safety of our roads and our jobs:

• As just one example of how drug use can cost employers, the latest research indicates that employed drug users are absent from work 20 times more often than their colleagues who are drug-free.
• Alarmingly, the most recent government studies indicate that one out of six workers has a drug abuse problem.
• Nearly 75% of adult illicit drug users are employed, according to a survey on urine drug testing, which causes American businesses to lose nearly $81 billion every year.
• Urine tests are the most accurate form of testing when screening for drug use within the last five days.
• Although chronic use of marijuana can stay in the system for four weeks or longer after the last use, many drugs only remain in the system from two to four days.
• Amphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and phencyclidine are the chemicals that five-panel hair follicle drug test screens are used for.

The latest DOT drug and alcohol test training is just one of the latest strategies in making sure that our roads are as safe as possible. Just as the latest chemical testing keeps our highways and city streets safe, these same technologies can also make sure that our jobs are secure and that our workplaces have a way to monitor those who need to be tested.