Roadside tests ask drivers to walk line
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• In a return to 1950s-style roadside tests, truck drivers may be asked to show they can walk ht a straight line or touch their nose with their finger to prove they are not taking drugs.
The move is part of a UK pilot scheme involving six police forces. It follows research from Strathclyde Police which suggests that impairment tests are the best method of detecting drug-driving. Anyone suspected of taking illicit drugs will be breath-tested and then asked to perform a series of tasks including the "finger to nose test" where the driver tilts his head back and touches the tip of his nose with his finger.
"It was found that these tests are the best way of recognising drug taking," says a spokeswoman for Strathclyde police. "Anyone taking drugs tends to lose functons such as balance and co-ordination."
Police forces in North and
South Wales, Cleveland, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire will join Strathclyde in reporting to the Department of Transport after the trial, which began last month.
Early figures from a study into the extent of drug use in road accidents revealed that 18% of drivers involved in 619 fatal accidents had taken illicit drugs.