Brennan wants convictions to curb drug-driving

More convictions are needed to combat the alarming rise in motorists driving under the influence of drugs, Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said today.

Mr Brennan called on Justice Minister Michael McDowell to press for severe penalties for people caught drug driving.

A University College Dublin study revealed that, of 2,000 motorists apprehended for erratic driving, 15.7% tested positive for one or more drugs.

In drivers who were under the limit for alcohol, the survey showed one third had positive readings for drugs.

Mr Brennan said more needed to be done but that gardaí had difficulties as there was no road side test for drug driving.

He said: “As a result of this report I intend to discuss it with the Minister for Justice and to ask him if he will require the gardaí to step up their activity in this area.

“The gardaí will, I’m sure, try to be tougher in this area and I’d like to see them being tougher.”

The survey by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety at UCD found that 67.9% of drivers with less than 10mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood had evidence of drugs in their system during 2000-2001.

Six out of 10 drivers with positive drug tests had been using cannabis, the bureau said.

Mr Brennan said the report highlighted the alarming and chilling statistics of drug driving across the country.

He said: “I’m very alarmed by them. It shows that of the sample taken in 2000 some 68% of those who were not under the influence of alcohol were under the influence of drugs.”

Professor Denis Cusack, director of the Bureau, said: “We have a very serious problem because these drugs impair people’s ability to drive.

“Driving under the influence of an intoxicant is one of the major factors contributing to road traffic crashes, but alcohol remains the intoxicant most frequently found in drivers.”

Prof. Cusack also pointed to the rise in cocaine abuse in line with figures on drug seizures from the gardaí.

He added that drivers testing positive for cocaine was bottom of the list in 2000-2001, but in the last year that had risen to third.

The bureau claimed that young men in urban areas were more likely to test positive for drug driving.

Eddie Shaw of the National Safety Council said: “It’s going to require additional resources, but most of all it’s going to require a change in attitude.

“We have got to be determined that we have the will to deal with these problems.”

Mr Shaw added that campaigns in the future would target drug driving and continue to tackle the issue of drink driving.

The bureau said it was time for a review of legislation on the issue of drug driving and that there was a need for education and awareness on driving under the influence of drugs.