Sir, – The introduction of new tests for drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs will inevitably lead to many court challenges, as has been the case with alcohol tests ("Drug-driving – crackdown on drivers at testing checkpoints", December 15th).
Although the need for new measures to deal with the problem is beyond question, the use of chemical analysis follows the somewhat crude path upon which much of the world embarked with the introduction of the breathalyser.
However, despite its widespread use, chemical analysis of bodily fluids bears only a tenuous relationship to determining an individual’s ability to drive. Ireland, in common with many other jurisdictions, has merely adjusted acceptable chemical levels in the intervening years but no effort has been made to find a more effective test of driving impairment.
Alcohol, and presumably drugs, affect people in different ways and in this age of technology it should be possible to establish ability to drive by an electronic test that measures factors affecting ability to drive such as observation, reaction, concentration, dexterity, and so on.
Such testing would not need to differentiate between the substances consumed but would address the real factors that affect ability to drive.
Although unscientific, the procedures in the pre-breathalyser era whereby drivers were required to walk a chalk line or stand on one foot, etc, were arguably more relevant than chemical analysis on the basis that they attempted to address driving ability.
We would do well to harness the expertise of our renowned third-level institutions in a vigorous quest for an effective alternative to chemical testing. The world might then beat a path to our door to avail of it. – Yours, etc,
PETER COOGAN,
Celbridge,
Co Kildare.