Research by TRL, UK in 1997 showed a six-fold increase in illicit drug consumption by fatally injured drivers compared with a comparable study carried out ten years earlier. The low level of prosecutions for drug driving indicate that significant numbers of drivers impaired by drugs go undetected by police. This hass because there is no readily available roadside screening device and because of lack of police training in this subject. Trials in the Strathclyde Police area after a training course for police officers and surgeons led to the arrest of suspects failing a field impairment test, and of those subsequently tested for drugs, 92% proved positive. Further quantification of impairment testing is considered necessary. Medical examination procedures are discussed including the relative merits of blood and urine samples. The assessment of the effect of the drugs will depend on individual tolerance levels and the setting of legislative drug driving levels is not considered possible. A testing procedure reliant on a sample of perspiration from the suspect's forehead is described, but only one drug can be tested for at a time. Another test relies on a sample of saliva. Over 98% of drivers returning a questionnaire were in favour of roadside testing for drugs.
Samenvatting