PLANS for roadside drug tests for motorists are being studied by the Department of Transport and senior police. Trial testing could start within nine months and full-scale testing is regarded as inevitable, one police expert said yesterday.
The experimental tests will be carried out by selected police forces around the country. They will evaluate simple roadside test kits for cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines and opiates, such as heroin. The tests will be given to drivers who have been stopped and given alcohol breath tests. If the drivers are negative they will be asked to volunteer for the drug-test trials.
The drivers cannot be prosecuted unless police can show that their driving had been impaired by the drugs. Current legislation does not allow prosecution for traces of a banned drug within the body.
In the tests police would use a wipe system developed in Germany by a company called Securitec. A small impregnated pad is passed over the subject's forehead or the back of the neck. The sweat gathered on the wipe reacts to chemicals and shows a colour change indicating a drug is present. Different wipes have to be used for different types of drug.
The wipes are also being tested by police in Stuttgart, but the number of volunteers has been limited because the German police have insisted on charging a number of the drivers. In Britain, Home Office scientists are working to develop tests and are expected to report next year.
The pilot scheme in Britain is being recommended by a police working party on drug use by motorists. Yesterday Superintendent David Rowe, chairman of the working group, said proposals for the tests had gone to transport ministers and officials, who were considering the plans.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Police Superintendents' Association, in Bristol, Mr Rowe, a Sussex officer, said he believed that full-scale testing was inevitable. His group has formulated a specimen offence for new legislation allowing police to prosecute and they are recommending that there be a zero limit. They believe that if any trace of drugs is permitted that could open the way for some legal use.
Mr Rowe and Rob Tunbridge are leading a national three-year study of road fatalities to discover the extent of drug use. Yesterday they told the conference that, after 11 months, research showed that the presence of alcohol in the bodies of road victims had fallen substantially in the past decade while illicit drug-taking had increased fourfold. Mr Rowe said that up to 88,000 drivers who tested negative for drink last year may have taken drugs. Last year there were 780,000 breath tests of which 101,000 (13 per cent) were either positive or the driver refused to take the test.
Mr Rowe argued that, if 13 per cent of those who were cleared by the breath tests were on drugs, that would add up to another 88,000 motorists whose driving might have been impaired. Last year the Forensic Science Service dealt with only 1,204 samples from drivers involving drug use.
The research project has examined 465 victims of fatal road accidents with the help of pathologists and coroners. In 351 cases no drug was found but drugs were present in the bodies of 114 victims, a quarter of the total. Of these 5 per cent had taken prescribed drugs and 20 per cent had taken illegal drugs. A breakdown showed 54 out 215 drivers had taken drugs; 19 out of 77 motorcycle riders; 25 out of 79 passengers; ten out of 60 pedestrians; two out of 16 cyclists and four of a further 18 unclassified cases.
The research found that 43 of those killed had taken cannabis and a further ten had used amphetamines, including Ecstasy. No one had taken LSD or cocaine, but 14 had taken opiates. A further 31 had taken a mixture of drugs.