CORONER CALLS FOR DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING FOR TRUCKERS

Recommendations Follow Inquiry Into Fatal Propane-Tanker Accident

The coroner who directed an inquiry into a fatal propane-tanker accident
last summer is encouraging government and industry to explore mandatory
drug-and-alcohol testing for truck drivers.

In a report released Thursday, coroner Maureen Wint said it is "imperative"
that employers, employees, unions and Transport Canada "continue to
research and implement programs which would protect not only the public
from the possibility of intoxicated professional drivers on the road, but
also the employers and employees themselves."

The recommendation arose from Wint's examination of the death of Philip
Martin Higgins, a 47-year-old Nanaimo man who died July 17 when his ICG
Propane truck crashed into a rock face on the Trans-Canada Highway about 28
kilometres north of Victoria.

Higgins died at the scene. The highway was closed for nearly a day and
local houses were evacuated while workers scurried to cleanup the hazardous
spill.

A preliminary report last year said Higgins was driving with
three-and-a-half times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

The written judgment of inquiry further says he mixed the alcohol with high
levels of anti-depressant medication, which can cause drowsiness, poor
coordination and confusion.

Wint called on governments, truck drivers, trucking companies and unions to
make Canadian roads safer by examining a U.S. program that requires
mandatory drug and alcohol testing for professional drivers.

South of the border, 50 per cent of truckers are randomly tested each year
for drug use, and 10 per cent must undergo tests for alcohol - which
results show is less prevalent than narcotics.

There is no similar program in Canada. However, the U.S. requires Canadian
truckers who cross the border to participate in the six-year-old American
program.

Therefore, about 20,000 Canadian truckers are in a pool subjected to the
random tests before entering the U.S., said Paul Landry of the B.C.
Trucking Association.

That number represents about 25 per cent of professional drivers in this
country. The remaining 75 per cent, who drive their rigs on domestic
highways, are not subjected to any type of test for drug and alcohol use.

But 1998 statistics from the Insurance Corporation of B.C. show alcohol was
a factor in just four per cent of injury and fatal accidents involving
commercial vehicles. That compares to alcohol playing a role in 28 per
cent of fatal crashes involving all types of vehicles.

"The reality is drugs and alcohol are not a big problem in our industry,"
Landry said.

Of the truckers tested under U.S. regulations, he said a negligible number
were found to be drinking, and about three per cent had drugs in their system.

Peter McPherson, of the B.C. ministry of transportation and highways, said
he was not aware of any discussions with the federal government and the
trucking industry about mandatory testing in Canada. "In this country,
Canadians tend to be very opposed to mandatory drug testing," he said.

McPherson said the coroner's recommendations could be incorporated into an
ICBC study on commercial vehicle safety.

A Transport Canada spokesman said Ottawa would take a look at the report,
but did not know if the topic would be opened up for debate. A document on
the Transport Canada Web cite says the federal government is looking for
alternatives to drug testing to evaluate fitness for work in the
transportation industry.

Higgins' former employer, Calgary-based Superior Propane doesn't test its
employees right now, but spokesman Martin Clough said Wint's
recommendations will be "reviewed within the context of Canadian Laws."

Landry said it is difficult for individual companies to make such policies,
because they can face human-rights complaints or grievances from unions.

While Landry said mandatory testing could weed out some addicted drivers,
he doesn't believe it is the biggest safety issue facing truckers. He
added such a program would only have saved Higgins" life if he had been
tested the day of the crash. Instead, he called for supervisors to be
trained to look for staff with substance-abuse problems.

Wint's report said Higgins was in good health, but in December 1996, began
to get depressed. Over the next three years, he took time off work and
took antidepressants, including Prozac. In April, 2000, he was fired,
under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was reinstated when the
allegations could not be proven and a physical test on July 9 determined he
was fit to return to work. His first shift was on the day of the fatal crash.