Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The text of the road traffic Bill, which, inter alia, proposes a reduction in the legal blood alcohol content level for drivers and introduces measures for the mandatory testing for alcohol of drivers involved in road traffic collisions, is currently being drafted and is nearing completion. The Road Traffic Acts already provide that a member of the Garda Síochána may test a driver involved in a road traffic collision for alcohol. The Acts also provide for the testing of drivers in relation to drugs. If a garda is of the opinion that a driver is under the influence of a drug or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle, he or she may require that person to go to a Garda station and further require that person to submit to a blood test or provide a urine sample.

There is as yet no reliable system of preliminary roadside testing for drugs, but the Medical Bureau of Road Safety is keeping abreast of developments in this area. The draft road traffic Bill includes provisions for "field impairment testing", which consists of non-technological methods by which gardaí can make a preliminary assessment about the possible presence of drugs.

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