New kits next year will detect drivers on drugs

New roadside tests to identify people driving under the influence of drugs are to be introduced across the country from early next year.

Authorities have signed off on the supply of a new testing kit that will allow gardaí test motorists for drugs such as cocaine and cannabis by analysing a swab taken from inside a driver’s cheek.

Prof Denis Cusack, director of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, said he anticipated the devices would be supplied to the Garda from early next year on a phased basis.

The bureau says almost 70 per cent of samples it was sent to test between 2007 and 2013 for the presence of drugs were certified positive.

Drug-testing

Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe has said the figures illustrate the need to enact the new Road Traffic Bill (2015), which is aimed at providing a legislative basis for drug-testing. While the State has had roadside testing of alcohol for years, it was time to bring the law on drug-driving into line with this.

Among the drugs the kit provides test results for are amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis and methadone.

The bureau will test the equipment and train gardaí on how to use the new kit. The same device may be used to test for alcohol.

Road safety experts have long campaigned for a change in the law on the basis of opinion polls which indicate that many feel it is safe to drive after taking illegal drugs.

However, research indicates these drugs seriously impair driving skills.