HONG KONG: The government will consider toughening up legislation to crack down on people who drive while under the influence of drugs. Thirty-five drivers killed in traffic accidents over the past five years were found to have drug residues in their bodies, the transport secretary has said.

The number accounts for 14 percent of the 245 drivers killed over the past five years, Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng told lawmakers at a meeting yesterday.

Cheng said most of the drug residues were found to be painkillers and respiratory drugs.

Ten of the 35 drivers killed had also been found to have consumed alcohol, she said.

Cheng said current laws stipulate that drivers suspected of causing traffic accidents while under the influence of drugs could be charged with dangerous driving or dangerous driving causing death.

But she said police officers were not empowered to require drivers to provide bodily fluid specimens for drug testing.

Suitable rapid drug-screening devices had yet to become available for assessing whether a driver involved in a traffic incident had taken drugs, she added.

Cheng cited police records that two drivers had been convicted of driving under the influence of drugs in the past five years.

Both had taken ketamine and both had become involved in traffic collisions, said Cheng.

She said one of the offenders had been banned from driving for six months and put on probation for a year while the other was fined HK$1,000 and banned from driving for one year prior to the fatal incidents.

"At present, a great variety of drugs are available in the market and reaction to drugs varies among individuals. Unlike alcohol, it is difficult to ascertain the effect of each type of drug on driving behavior," she said.

"The safe dosage for different drugs also differs. Hence, setting relevant standards and arrangements in respect to driving offences involving drugs is a complex and formidable task."

But Cheng said authorities would review relevant studies and legislative amendments in overseas jurisdictions and study the current standards for rapid drug-screening devices, in order to establish a basis to enhance current legislation.

In Singapore, the United Kingdom and the American state of Arizona, a police officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a driver had taken drugs may require the suspect to provide a blood or urine sample for analysis, Cheng said.

(HK Edition 05/28/2009 page1)