KEY POINTS:
The Road Transport Forum is calling on the Government to introduce drug testing with roadside alcohol breath testing in its 2007 road safety programme.
Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander said the move was urgent because of the growing use of so-called recreational drugs within the community.
"This must mean that the number of drug-affected drivers on the road is also increasing. Roads are our industry's workplace.
"Members of the commercial road transport industry, and especially truck drivers, are being put at ever greater risk of being involved in an accident caused by someone whose driving is drug-impaired every day."
Mr Friedlander said it was life-threatening and needed urgent action.
"The industry has taken the lead in tackling driver drug abuse. It has adopted a zero tolerance policy on illegal drug consumption and many companies now carry out random drug testing of their staff."
Mr Friedlander said drug abuse was not a major problem in the industry.
Police statistics showed that less than 1 per cent of all truck accidents involved drug or alcohol abuse.
"In reality truck drivers are more likely to be the victims, not the cause, of a drugs-related accident."
He said that over two-thirds of all accidents involving a truck and another vehicle were caused by the other vehicle and it was very likely that drug abuse could be a factor.
The industry had been told that it would be four years before the police would be equipped to carry out roadside drug testing.
This was an unacceptable delay, Mr Friedlander said.
The Candor Trust (Campaign Against Drugs on Roads) said it supported the Road Transport Forum's calls for driver drug testing but felt the group was misguided in its emphasis upon the social - rather than anti-social - use of drugs.
The trust said Mr Friedlander was wrong to assume that recreational drugs were the greatest issue.
International research and studies within New Zealand made clear that recreational-type drugs were not the greatest threat to road safety at all but rather use of any risk drugs by addicted persons.
The drugs having the highest association with increased crash culpability and contributing most to the road toll were (aside from marijuana) generally not viewed as recreational.
Most were listed as controlled drugs, the trust said.
The Transport Minister is due to release the Government's road safety programme for 2007.
Mr Friedlander said he was hopeful introduction of roadside drug testing next year would be a key part of the programme.
- NZPA
