Roll-out of new devices for gardaí to test motorists caught driving under the inf luence of drugs
‘Drivers high on drugs’
A MAJOR clampdown on drugdriving is being launched – with roadside drug testing to be rolled out by gardaí nationwide early next year.
As part of the plan, officers will be provided with testing kits which can detect cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and other illegal narcotics.
The Irish Daily Mail can reveal that the Medical Bureau of Road Safety has now selected an ‘oral fluid testing device’ that will soon be purchased and distributed to An Garda Síochána.
The ‘spit sample’ gadget has been chosen after an eight-month scientific testing process by the MBRS.
Professor Denis Cusack, head of the bureau, told the Mail that following on from the tendering process last year, the scientific testing process is now also complete. The successful applicant will now be i nformed that the Government wishes to order the device for opera- tional use by An Garda Síochána.
Professor Cusack told the Mail: ‘The tender went out last year. The evaluation is now complete of the various devices that were being scientifically examined. All the devices we tested went through a very careful assessment process. The final process of awarding the tender will now be issued. They will be notified within a couple of weeks.’
He said the hand-held devices will be issued to gardaí when they are fully trained up of how to use them.
The Department of Transport confirmed that new laws to allow for gardaí to use the ‘ spit sample’ devices is covered under the Road Traffic Bill 2015, which is due to become law in the coming months.
A spokesman for the department said: ‘The Road Traffic Bill 2015 is currently being drafted and will be published later this year with a view to enactment by year end.
‘The main focus of this Bill will be to provide for roadside testing for drugs by gardaí. While the law on driving under the influence of alcohol has been greatly strengthened in recent years, this Bill will expand the legislation on drug-driving in a similar way. The technology to conduct roadside tests for drugs now exists, and this Bill will ensure that these tests can and do take place.’
Professor Cusack said that by early next year gardaí should be using the devices to catch those driving under the influence of illegal drugs – in a bid to cut reduce the rate of drugrelated accidents.
‘ The scientific testing process ended in July,’ he added. ‘We are at the end of the process, the report is being finalised and the successful device has been chosen.
‘The scientific tests focused on selecting the best device out there.
‘The device with the highest possible standard of accuracy was sought. We want the best device obviously and the one that can do what it says it can do, testing accurately for various types of drugs. It was an international tender.’
The Government, through the Department of Transport, foots the bill for purchasing the hand-held devices for An Garda Síochána. When rolled out, if a motorist fails the saliva drugs tests, gardaí will have the powers to arrest them on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
The motorists will then be compelled to provide a further sample, either a blood or urine sample, at a Garda station to confirm the presence of drugs in the driver’s system.
Senior security sources welcomed the news last night.
Officers say there is a ‘huge problem’ with a minority of motorists abusing drugs – particularly canna- bis – and getting behind the wheel. A source said: ‘These new devices are a long time coming.
‘There is a big problem with some motorists high on drugs. They don’t think it’s as risky as driving after a couple of drinks.
‘Soon we will now have a device that can test them on the spot, as a lot of the time it’s not obvious when people are drug- driving. We hope this will help stop those who use illegal drugs from getting behind the wheel when under the influence.’
WHETHER they are aimed at rooting out dangerous modern habits or tackling age- old bad behaviour, any measures that help reduce the terrible carnage on the roads in this country are welcome.
Early next year the gardaí will address the growing scourge of motorists driving under the influence of illegal narcotics.
Roadside drug-driving test kits which can detect drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy will be distributed to the gardaí following a training period.
In time they will hopefully prove as effective a deterrent as the breathalyser and just as importantly, clear up the misapprehension among many drug users that driving while high on drugs is not as risky as driving under the influence of alcohol.
But whatever about the role of drink and drugs in the epidemic of road deaths, a review by the Road Safety Authority and the gardaí shows that more than a third of drivers and passengers killed on the roads since the start of the year were not wearing their seatbelts. It seems extraordinary that such a simple oversight can still result in such widespread destruction. Some 40 years after the first Fasten Your Seatbelt campaigns, it seems motorists are as guilty as ever of an act of negligence that can only be characterised as irresponsible in the extreme. The Clunk Click campaign of the 1970s was instrumental in dramatically reducing road deaths in the UK. Perhaps it’s time for another campaign highlighting how buckling up can be the single most effective factor in saving lives and preventing grave injury.
Perhaps it’s also time for another Garda crackdown on seatbelt culprits.