DRUG-DRIVE TESTS TO BE COMPULSORY

On-the-spot capability tests for motorists suspected of driving under the
influence of drugs will be made compulsory, a minister has confirmed.

The tests will allow police officers to check a driver's ability, even if
he or she passes a standard breath test.

Junior transport minister David Jamieson told BBC Radio Five Live that as
soon as legislative time allows, driving impairment tests will be made
compulsory.

A investigation for the Five Live Report programme found a driver who
smoked cannabis could not walk in a straight line and went on to fail three
basic tests on reaction time and co-ordination.

The findings follow proposals to re-classify cannabis from a class 'B' to a
class 'C' drug and a UKP1.5m government campaign aimed at preventing young
people from taking ecstasy and cocaine on New Year's Eve.

An estimated one in five drivers killed on the roads has traces of drugs in
their bodies.

RAC figures suggest that 7% of the UK population have been in a car with a
driver who is under the influence of drugs.

Mr Jamieson says that driving-impairment tests should be made compulsory
when a motorist is stopped under suspicion of driving while under the
influence of alcohol or drugs.

An experiment carried out by Datron, a company which specialise in testing
driver proficiency under different circumstances, showed how one driver who
had smoked cannabis knocked over three out of six cones in a slalom test.

Her braking distance increased by 40 feet, with a half a second delay to
her reaction time.

In the impairment tests, the driver could not walk in a straight line, and
could not accurately count to 30. She could not stand on one leg, or touch
her nose.

User count

Under current rules, a police officer cannot insist on an impairment test
if a driver has passed a breath test.

But Mr Jamieson said: "What we have to do is to establish the number of
people taking drugs and how impaired they are.

"When there is a legislative opportunity to do so we will make compulsory
driving-impairment tests.

"Those would give the police force the ability to perform those tests and
then mount a prosecution on the basis of that, if they found a person impaired.

"Five Live Report - The Drug Drivers" can be heard at 1200GMT on 30 December.