IMPAIRED DRIVING
The changes to the law include a new offence of driving with the presence of controlled drugs, intoxicating substances or psychoactive substances detected in a driver’s blood specimen.
“While it is an offence to drive simply with a certain concentration of alcohol in one’s blood, there is no corresponding offence for specified substances,” said Ms Sim.
“This is because there is no single scientifically established concentration threshold that can reliably indicate impairment across the wide range of such substances.”
The prosecution must prove not only that the driver had consumed drugs, but also that the drugs had rendered him incapable of having proper control of the vehicle, giving rise to “significant evidential challenges”.
Under the changes to the law, there will not be a need to prove impaired driving.
Driving with the presence of specified substances in the blood is dangerous and should be deterred, since these specified substances – for example, etomidate – are already regulated under existing laws and are known to impair driving ability by affecting reaction time, attention and coordination, said Ms Sim.
Read Full Article At Source
