Drugged driver kills Missouri woman in brutal morning crash
Minutes from death by a drugged driver, 52-year-old Kimberly Austill sat patiently that early December morning in 2015 in the exit lane of a Steak and Shake restaurant in Ballwin, waiting for traffic to clear. Suddenly, a drugged driver, eastbound on Manchester, drifted out of his lane, “into the curb lane and then off the roadway,” and smashed into the driver side of Austill’s car, killing her.
The 25-year driver, Geoffrey Kasden, had morphine and methamphetamine in his system, according to a December 2017 report in West Newsmagazine. But Ballwin police didn’t receive his toxicology report until November 29, 2016. Due to the delay, it was months before Kasden was charged in Austill’s death although he had “a number of charges over the years, including drug offenses, resisting and interfering with a felony arrest and assault.”
The delay highlights a growing drugged driving problem
In 2015, the Missouri State Highway Patrol got 28,034 requests for forensic tests of all kinds from “more than 500 law enforcement agencies around the state, according to West Newsmagazine, “that included one and up to several dozen samples in each case.”
Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) statistics show that of all fatal crashes in 2015, “26.0% involved drugs and alcohol.” The next year, its statistics showed a “13.71% jump in drug intoxication driving violations. Its highway patrol crime labs recorded 1,156 positive tests for heroin in 2016 compared to 56 positive tests in 2008.
Drugged driving is pushing up national roadway death rate
In 2017, CNN reported “positive drug tests were more common than the presence of alcohol among fatally injured drivers who were tested in 2015.” It found 43% of those who died tested positive for drugs while 37% tested positive for alcohol. The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information estimates “as many as 17% of adults age 60 and older abuse prescription drugs.” It also reports drugged drivers are found in every age group.
Fortune Magazine calls the increase in deaths on U.S. roads the “largest in 50 years.” It reports speeding and distracted driving are top causes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety still calls alcohol the “biggest safety problem” on U.S. roads.
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