BRATISLAVA, February 19, (WEBNOVINY)- The Interior Ministry plans to purchase 15,000 drug testers this year. They will be applied during roadside controls to check drivers whether they do not drive under the influence of dangerous substances. “The testers will be used by policemen in order they are able to identify persons who drive under the influence of drugs and mean a great danger for traffic,“ minister Daniel Lipsic (KDH) has said.
Lipsic announced that preventive traffic actions will be combined; aimed at both alcohol and drugs. If suspicion arises that a driver might use a drug, s/he will be drug tested. The minister added that participants in road accidents will be drug tested as well. “We want that driving under the influence of a psychotropic substance, i.e. alcohol or another drug was defined as a crime,“ added the minister.
According to police statistics, 345 people died on Slovak roads last year. In 2009, the death toll was 347, down 211 from a year ago. In 2,520 cases from 2009 alcohol was involved, with 2.251 cases involving a driver who had alcohol in his blood. Compared with 2008, the number of alcohol-related accidents dropped 602 in 2009.
SITA