Changes to drink and drug driving laws come into effect

12.00 | 10 April 2015 |

A series of changes to drink and drug driving laws, previously announced in 2012 and 2011, have come into force today (10 April).

Under the new legislation, drink drivers are no longer entitled to request a blood or urine sample when their breath specimen is less than 51mg/100ml. The police, however, retain the right to test blood or urine should they wish to do so. 

The new law is designed to close the loophole which previously allowed a person who tested positive in breath to sober up while they wait for a blood or urine sample to be taken.

In addition, a wider range of registered healthcare professionals are now able to advise whether a person is impaired by drugs during the investigation of a person’s driving ability, and able to take evidential blood samples.

The new legislation was set out in the Government’s response to the North Report on drink and drug driving, which was published in 2010, and applies across all forms of transport including road, rail, maritime and aviation.

Comments

Comment on this story

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close