Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputy says drugged driving is on the rise

Law enforcement officers go through extensive training

WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – Deputy Brian Webb, with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, said that when he conducts a traffic stop or a field sobriety test, he's checking for symptoms to show that a person is driving with drugs in their system.

"That's the big thing here, to make sure that there are safe, responsible drivers on the roadway, whether it's smoking cannabis or prescription medication," Webb said.

Webb said that, across Michigan, drugged driving stops are up 15 percent. He said, for Washtenaw County, the numbers so far this year indicate 28 people were pulled over for drugged driving. In 2018, 81 traffic stops were connected to drugged driving.

The increase in stops could also be connected to the extensive training that law enforcement officers go through. Webb is one of the statewide instructors for the Advances Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, or ARIDE, classes.

Watch the video above for the full report from Local 4 News at 11.

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