Roadside drug driving test to be law by 2021
Radio NZ News 19 December 2019
Family First Comment: “Last year 95 people were killed in preventable crashes where the driver was found to have drugs in their system that could impair driving. That is an enormous and intolerable loss of life. The new powers will send a clear message that if you take drugs and drive, you will be caught.”
Good. We’ll need these powers as attempts are made to normalise drug use.
https://saynopetodope.org.nz/driving-stoned/
Roadside drug testing will be conducted by police from 2021, the government says.
Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today she would introduce a bill to Parliament early next year giving police powers to run random roadside saliva testing.
“Last year 95 people were killed in preventable crashes where the driver was found to have drugs in their system that could impair driving,” Ms Genter said.
“That is an enormous and intolerable loss of life. The new powers will send a clear message that if you take drugs and drive, you will be caught.”
Ms Genter said the saliva tests will take between two and five minutes to process, but they are not foolproof.
The devices are known to give false positives, so people who tested positive would be tested a second time before facing a fine and an immediate suspension from driving for a minimum of 12 hours.
“Drivers will also face criminal penalties if they fail a compulsory impairment test and blood tests confirm impairing levels of drugs in their system,” Ms Genter said.
“The threshold for a criminal offence will be aligned with that for alcohol. This means a blood test that identifies impairing medication or drugs at or above an amount equivalent to the criminal drink driving limit (80mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood) will result in a criminal offence.”
A variety of drugs will be tested for: THC, methamphetamine, opiates, cocaine, MDMA (ecstacy), and benzodiazepines.
READ MORE: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405791/roadside-drug-driving-test-to-be-law-by-2021
