Citation

Richardson J. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1997; 1997: 21-28.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Evidence is now available in Australia to demonstrate that the number of people killed or injured after taking an illicit or licit drug is approaching that of alcohol. Significant successful countermeasures have reduced drink driving and speeding but the effects of drugs on each individual are so diverse that the issue has been very difficult to resolve. Unlike alcohol, no simple roadside testing device is available to test the levels of impairment caused by drugs used in the many millions of possible combinations by drivers. The Victorian Road Safety Committee has proposed a package of countermeasures based on prevention, detection, action such as re-education and research. The detection of persons impaired by drugs other than alcohol will be based on the principle of driver impairment. Drivers who fail a blood alcohol test but are still obviously impaired based on police observation would undertake two prescribed steps, one of which is video recorded. Blood or urine tests are only proposed when the decision is made to prosecute a drug impaired person.