A Minister has indicated that legislation might be needed to reflect the effect of drugs on drivers.
The Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, said the preliminary findings of a drug research programme by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS) underlined growing concern about the influence of drugs on driving behaviour.
He told delegates the identification of the presence of drugs was more complex than for alcohol. Internationally, research programmes were being carried out in this area. To advance research on drugs and driving in Ireland, his Department had pledged additional funding to the MBRS to carry out a two-year programme of drug analysis of blood and urine specimens.
He said preliminary findings of the study were made available to him recently. It was based on blood and urine samples submitted to the MBRS between July 1st and December 31st, 1999, which were under the legal limit for alcohol. Yet 37 per cent of these samples tested positive for drugs, mostly cannabis.
"These early findings underline the Government's view expressed in the Road Safety Strategy that drugs and driving is an issue of growing concern. While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, the research programme when completed will, along with other international analysis and research in this area, inform the need for possible changes in testing methods for the presence of drugs, changes in enforcement practices and procedures and possibly changes to existing legislation."
Speaking about the driving theory test, Mr Molloy said it would be introduced by mid-2001 as an additional requirement for novice drivers and would cover in greater depth such areas as knowledge of the rules of the road, risk perception, hazard awareness and good driving behaviour.
He said the driver theory testing service was being procured on a public/private partnership basis.