WA SNUB TO DRIVER DRUG TEST

WA WILL not follow Victoria's lead to introduce random roadside drug
tests.

The Road Safety Council, which will shortly report to the State
Government on how to tackle drug driving, believes saliva-testing
technology is not sufficiently proved or effective.

The Victorian Government announced yesterday it would introduce random
roadside drug testing similar to booze buses next year - the first
jurisdiction in the world to do so.

Drivers will give a saliva sample that is processed within minutes,
showing the presence of drugs such as marijuana, speed, cocaine and
ecstasy. The roadside tests will target transport workers and rave
parties.

In WA, the Road Safety Council will only recommend that police crack
down on people driving under the influence of illegal drugs.

Police will be given recommended new procedures to catch drug drivers,
including behavioural tests.

But new Australian research reveals behavioural tests are also
unreliable.

A Swinburne University study released today found that saliva tests
were 98 per cent effective.

But the Standardised Field Sobriety Tests used by police - such as
following an object with the eyes or walking a straight line -
successfully identified only three in four drivers impaired by
marijuana, and only one in 10 under the influence of
amphetamines.

A study released earlier this year by the Australian Institute of
Criminology found that three out of four traffic offenders in the East
Perth lockup tested positve to drugs, including cannabis, speed and
cocaine.

More than one in 20 drivers killed in road accidents in WA were found
to have drugs other than alcohol in their system, compared with more
than one in five with a blood alcohol content in excess of 0.05.

WA Office of Road Safety executive director Iain Cameron said police
needed a more efficient and effective way to detect drug drivers.

"With alcohol we have 30 years of lab research that proves 0.05 in the
blood doubles the risk of a crash," he said. "But there are hundreds
of other drugs and combinations."

Under the recommendations, behavioural tests would be used to form an
initial opinion. A driver who appeared impaired and passed an alcohol
breath test would be given a blood test.

A spokesman for Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she would take
the council's recommendations to Cabinet when they had been presented
formally.