The effect of illegal drugs on driving safety receives an increasing attention. A major problem in this area is the detection of drug use. On the one hand, screening tests (using urine, sweat or saliva) are being developed. On the other hand, drug recognition programs are introduced. This latter approach focuses on behavioural signs of drug use detected by experts. In this paper, the effectiveness of this approach is examined and compared to measuring certain aspects of driving performance in a simple driving simulation. The data were obtained in 1998 when a field study funded by the BAST was conducted with drivers at discotheques. Subjects were contacted and asked to participate in a short interview concerning drugs and driving. Subjects who had consumed drugs and were driving at this evening or at similar occasions were asked for an extended interview, a driving-simulator test and for a medical examination including a behavioural check as well as taking blood, urine and saliva samples. Additionally, sober control subjects and subjects under the influence of alcohol were included. It is concluded that simple behavioural tests which can be conducted at roadside are a valuable tool to improve the detection of illegal drug drivers. (Author/publisher) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD Abstract No. E201067.
Abstract