Police to drug-test drivers

Police plan to trial drug-testing of drivers at checkpoints by June.

Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, police national road safety manager, said the trial would run in several districts at once for between three and six months.

People found driving while on drugs would be charged, but the trial's purpose was mainly to assess how bad the problem was.

"We would likely go to areas where we thought the problem [with drugs and driving] was bad, like Northland and the Bay of Plenty ... Then we might also go to areas where we think the problem isn't as bad to get a good idea of how big the problem is," Mr Fitzgerald said.

Waikato and Christchurch were understood to be possibilities, but Mr Fitzgerald would not reveal details.

He said trained staff would be 95 per cent accurate in determining if people were on drugs.

Police would examine drivers' pupil dilation and those suspected of having used drugs would be put through co-ordination tests. Under the Land Transport Act it is an offence to drive under the influence of a drug to the extent of being "incapable of having proper control".

It is not illegal to drive with drugs in your system and the threshold to charge people is something police are considering carefully.

- NZPA