Road safety charities and campaigners are calling for a loophole in roadside drug driving tests to be closed.
The issue is that current rules mean that if a driver tests positive at the roadside, the police then have to obtain a blood test to confirm the results.
It can take up to 6 months for those tests to be returned from the lab, while the driver is free to get behind the wheel until the results are returned.
If the results are not returned within the 6 months, the offender is allowed to walk free as this is the deadline by law for charges to be authorised after the initial offence.
Experts are now calling for ‘saliva-based’ testing to be introduced at the roadside to crack down on drug-driving offenders.
The new Crime and Policing Bill was introduced in Parliament recently and road safety campaigners are hoping that more amendments to the law will follow.
With drug driving, drink driving and distracted driving (including mobile phone use behind the wheel) a constant concern for authorities, the government is facing calls to introduce more specific measures to combat them.
One issue facing the police and the government is the number of officers required to implement any changes to the law for roadside testing and catching offenders, though.
The use of technology such as AI and more cameras is being explored but the reality with drunk and drink driving in particular is that physical tests need to be administered at the time.
Do you think more needs to be done to catch motoring offenders? And how much of a road safety risk do you think it poses? Let us know in the comments below…
