Police poised to hit drug-drivers

By ELIZABETH BINNING

Blood samples from 4000 drunk, injured and fatally injured drivers will be tested for the presence of drugs as part of the first big study into New Zealand's drug-driving problem.

The two-year study, to be conducted at Environmental Science and Research (ESR), aims to quantify how many people drive while under the influence of drugs and what impact this has on their driving.

It will also look at what kinds of drugs, including medicinal drugs, are being used.

The ground-breaking research will run alongside a separate six-month trial in which specially trained police officers will conduct roadside tests of drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs.

The police national road safety manager, Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, said the ESR research and roadside trial were the first steps in the inevitable move towards nationwide testing of drivers for drugs.

Land Transport and Safety Authority statistics show that drugs were involved in the deaths of 35 drivers between 1998 and 2002. A further 27 fatally injured drivers had drugs and alcohol in their system.

There is little other information on the extent or impact of drug-driving in New Zealand. Overseas data show a three-fold increase in the number of drug-related accidents in the past three years.

Mr Fitzgerald said police had been watching the issue for some time but problems with legislation, limited understanding of the problem and a lack of cheap, effective drug-testing devices had prevented anything from being done until now.

This week the first real steps have been taken with advice being sought from Britain's Transport Research Laboratory. TRL representative Saul Jeavons will be in the country until tomorrow preparing a "state of the nation" report for police.

Mr Jeavons said the next step would be quantifying the extent of the problem and its impact. That would be done through the ESR trial, which would start in the second half of this year.

Blood samples from 2000 injured or fatally injured drivers will be tested for the presence of drugs and any role they played in the accident.

Samples from a further 2000 drivers who have undergone blood testing for drink-driving will also be analysed to see if drugs, and what kinds, are present.

Mr Fitzgerald said the results would be used solely for research and no specific details would be given to police for prosecution.

As well as the ESR research, up to 15 specially trained officers will take part in the police roadside testing, which starts in June.

The testing will take place at alcohol checkpoints and involve people who are deemed to be under the influence of something, but have passed an alcohol breath test.

They will be put though an "impairment test" and if found to be under the influence of drugs will be taken to a doctor for medical certification. A prosecution, using the videotaped impairment test and doctor's evidence, will follow in court.

The move to start addressing drug-driving in New Zealand is being fully supported by the LTSA, the Automobile Association and the Insurance Council.

AA director of public affairs George Fairbairn said the research would be welcomed by the public, many of whom had become aware of the dangers of drugs such as pure methamphetamine.

Mr Fitzgerald said regular roadside testing, like that for alcohol, was still five to 10 years away.

Handheld devices which test saliva for the presence of drugs were expensive and still being tested overseas.

New Zealand's laws are also in the process of being changed so that drivers can be prosecuted for being "impaired". At the moment police must prove that a driver is "incapable of having proper control".

However, Mr Fitzgerald said a more simplified form of drug testing, involving officers who can identify impaired drivers, could be running nationwide in as little as a year or two if the roadside trial and ESR research were successful.

Tackling drug-driving

* LTSA figures show that drugs were involved in the deaths of 35 drivers between 1998 and 2002.

* During a two-year study, 4000 blood samples will be tested for drugs and the impact they had on the driver.

* Police will start a six-month roadside testing trial in June. People suspected of driving under the influence of drugs will be put through an impairment test by specially trained officers. Nationwide roadside testing could be under way within the next two years, if recommended by the experts.