Drug driving is the term used to describe anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle under the influence of any substance (legal or illegal) that is likely to impair their driving ability.Under Section 107, Schedule 7 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003:
- It's an offence to drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of a controlled drug;
- Police officers have powers to undertake roadside drug tests on drivers.
Penalties
Driving under the influence of drugs carries the same penalties as drink driving - a ban and a fine of up to £5,000 or up to six months in jail. If a person under the influence of drugs causes a fatal accident, they could face a two-year ban and a maximum of 10 years in jail.
Roadside testing
The law does not state any legal limit for drugs as it does for alcohol. This is because knowledge of how different drugs impair different people's driving ability is inconclusive. The extent of harm resulting from driving under the influence of drugs continues to be researched, although the current lack of a definite legal limit for drug driving can complicate any possible further prosecution
If you're taken to the station
If field impairment tests demonstrate that you may have been driving under the influence of drugs, you could be arrested and taken to the police station. Here, you may be tested for the presence of drugs through a biological test (for example, by testing a sample of your blood or urine). The police don't have to wait for you to sober up or resume consciousness in order to do this. A doctor can also carry out a blood test to see if you've been incapacitated due to medical reasons, such as illness or intake of prescribed medicine.
No comments:
Post a Comment