LEGAL DRIVING LIMIT FOR DRUGS PROPOSED

The law regarding drugs and driving needs to be clarified with perhaps a
"legal" limit set for illegal drugs, the managing director of RAC Ireland,
Mr Robert Taylor, has proposed.

Mr Taylor said the Government had spent millions on effective campaigns
addressing the problem of drink-driving, yet it seemed strangely reluctant
to highlight the dangers of drugs and driving.

"Perhaps it is time to change the tagline from 'Kill your speed' to 'Taking
speed can kill'," he said.

Mr Taylor was commenting following publication of a British RAC report
which shows that more than 750,000 car passengers claimed to have been
driven by someone high on illegal drugs in a 12-month period. It also
revealed that 85 per cent of 22 to 25-year-olds believed that their peer
group regularly drove after taking drugs.

The statistics have prompted the British RAC to ask whether or not there
should be a legal limit set for illicit drugs and has called for a public
awareness campaign to warn motorists of the dangers of driving while using
illegal drugs and prescription drugs.

Mr Taylor said the findings reinforced their view that the problem of
drug-driving was frighteningly widespread.

"Although this particular research pertains to Britain, it would be
extremely naive of us to think that the same problem does not exist in
Ireland," he said.

"Perhaps a legal limit should be set for illegal drugs. After all, traces
of cannabis could stay in the body for up to a month, cocaine for three
days and ecstasy for between two and four days. For the police to prove
that someone was driving while unfit through the use of drugs, legal limits
might need to be set.

"At present, however, this seems to be a taboo area."