DRUG TEST UNFAIR, DISABLED CLAIM

People with physical disabilities or speech impediments could be
unfairly netted as part of new a law to test drivers for drugs, a
Northland disability advocate says.

Under the Land Transport Amendment Bill which comes into force on
December 1, police can decide whether a driver is under the influence
of drugs by carrying out a compulsory impairment test.

If the test shows a driver is impaired, it will be followed with a
blood test to determine whether drugs are present. If the blood
specimen shows the presence of a controlled drug or prescription
medicine, the driver may be charged with the new offence of driving
while impaired.

Drivers will be expected to walk in a straight line and stand on one
leg.

Tiaho Trust CEO Jonny Wilkinson, who has cerebral palsy, said if he
was asked to stand on one leg he "definitely would fail".

It had always been possible for physically disabled people to be
perceived as being drunk or on drugs, he said.

"If a test is going to be as blunt as that then police should have
disability awareness training so they can tell the difference between
disabled people and those impaired by alcohol or drugs."

It was possible physically disabled people could fail the impairment
test and be put through the inconvenience of having a blood test, Mr
Wilkinson said.

Alcohol testing was more fair because it definitively tested on the
level of alcohol rather than leaving it up to the direction of the
police officer, he said.

Apart from that, other telltale signs were exhibited by people under
the influence.

"People who are drunk or on drugs often display other behavioural
characteristics other than the way they move or the way they sound,"
Mr Wilkinson said.

If impairment tests were looked at on their own and not in the wider
context of physical disabilities, he said, it raised the question of
how to test people with a physical disability without giving them a
blood test.

"A more definitive means of testing should be used such as swabs or
other medical means."

National manager of road policing Superintendent Paula Rose said
police dealt with a range of backgrounds, abilities and disabilities
every day.

"As part of that officers take into consideration a range of
factors."

Hearing-impaired people identified themselves by wearing a badge and
others carried medical certificates, Ms Rose said. "Police make a
judgment on the training and experience they have."

A conversation was held at the roadside and information provided by
the person at the time would help officers form an opinion, she said.

Even if a physically disabled person failed the first two parts of the
impairment test (walk/turn and stand on one leg) they would "highly
likely" pass the eye test which determined pupil size, reaction to
light and lack of convergence.

"The officer makes a decision based on all three elements," Ms Rose
said.

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IMPAIRMENT TEST:

Walk/Turn: walk in a straight line, turn around and walk back

Stand on one leg

Eye test - checking pupil size, reaction to light, lack of convergence
and involuntary movement.