DRUG DRIVING: CAN 'DRUGALYSERS' STAMP IT OUT?

The Euston underpass had never looked so beautiful. The mix of rain
and oil spillage - and the influence of copious amounts of marijuana
and hashish - had turned the tarmac into a hypnotic rainbow.

Unfortunately, for film actor Robert Goodman, 53, who was making his
way home one Christmas on his beloved 750 Royal Enfield motorcycle, it
led to him being distracted and crashing into the kerb. "I tore
muscles and ligaments in my left knee," says Goodman, whose movie
credits include Gangs of New York. "The pain was excruciating. But I'm
just thankful it was me that was hurt and no one else."

Goodman had been at a friend's house when he took the drugs, but he'd
drunk numerous cups of strong coffee and left it a good few hours
before driving his bike home. "I thought I was doing good - until I
came off," says Goodman, who knows that he made a grave error of
judgement. "Even now, five years later, my knee still gives me gip."

These days Goodman no longer takes drugs (nor does he drink) - whether
he's driving or not. But a lot of people do, particularly over the
Christmas period. The figures are sobering. According to Department
for Transport research, almost 20 per cent of drivers involved in
fatal accidents have traces of drugs in their system. And an RAC
Foundation survey of 474 Max Power magazine readers, conducted in
2005, found that young people are more likely to be driven by someone
who has been taking drugs than by someone who has been drinking.

The extent of the problem began to surface in 2002 when the head of
traffic at Durham Police, Superintendent Barry Peart, asked labs to
screen for drugs as they suspected drugs were one of the common
denominators in incidents. The findings, he said, were "alarming, far
worse than we thought".

As a result of mounting evidence that more motorists are drug driving,
new roadside drug testing kits are to be introduced next year. Dubbed
"drugalysers", they analyse a motorist's saliva for drugs. Currently,
police use the roadside Field Impairment Test (FIT) to work out if
someone is driving while on drugs and/or drink. The test originated in
the US and involves making suspects stand on one leg, walk in a
straight line, and touch the tip of their nose with a finger, as well
as number-based questions to check mental agility.

If tests prove positive, drivers face the same punishment as those
over the alcohol limit: a minimum one-year ban and a fine of up to
?5,000. But this can never make up for lives lost. "One of the worst
examples we dealt with was a delivery van that was totally chopped in
half," recalls PC Robbie Burns of Cheshire Constabulary's traffic
unit. "The driver was killed instantly. The offending driver had
amphetamines and cannabis in his system." The victim was a father of
two.

It isn't just illicit drugs that pose a problem; prescription and
over-the-counter drugs do too. Anti-depressants, painkillers,
antihistamines and cough mixtures can slow down reactions and make
people drowsy. Police warn that anyone taking them should carefully
follow medical advice on driving afterwards. Unfortunately, many don't.

But as far as Goodman is concerned, "You just don't take drugs, legal
or otherwise, and drive. It's just not worth killing yourself or others."