(Radio Iowa) — Officials in the Iowa Department of Public Safety want to analyze blood samples from drivers who die in SINGLE-VEHICLE accidents, to determine if drug or alcohol-use contributed to the crash. Chandlor Collins, a policy advisor in the agency, says Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan are already collecting this data.

“As more states continue to either legalize medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, just having the data regardless of where you fall on those issues is just going to allow for better decisions to be made,” Collins says. About 70 fatal wrecks in Iowa last year involved a single driver. Collins says blood samples in those instances are rarely, if ever, collected to determine if the driver was impaired because there’s no liability issue since no one else was injured or killed in the accident.

“Data out there is saying there’s more drug-impaired driving than I think a lot of us as lay citizens think that is currently is occurring,” Collins says. A senate subcommittee is working on a bill that would require county medical examiners to draw blood from drivers killed in a single-vehicle wreck. Senators say there are issues, like proper training, to address.