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Conception and Evaluation of Roadside
Testing Instruments to Formalise Impairment Evidence in
Drivers; Summary Report
1. Introduction
In the
second half of the 20th Century much has changed
with respect to availability, use and societal consequences
of psycho-active substances such as alcohol, licit and illicit
drugs. After reaching adulthood, but increasingly earlier,
most people drink alcohol. Other psycho-active substances
used for pleasure such as cannabis, although not so widely
used as alcohol, began to grow rapidly in popularity in the
sixties, and are not very far from general acceptance these
days. In the 1960s many young people used to smoke 'pot',
at least some 50% in the USA and some 20% in some European
countries. On the eve of the new millennium, numerous new
fashionable drugs began to be available in sub-cultural markets,
and more are appearing every year.
With
respect to medicinal drugs, things are perhaps even worse.
In a small country like the Netherlands with only 15 million
inhabitants, more than 3000 different medicines are available,
while on an annual basis close to a million prescriptions
for hypnotics alone are written. In the post-war research
boom many new medicinal drugs emerged onto the market, now
prescribed to ambulant patients instead of hospitalised patients.
This means that all possible negative side effects of medicinal
drugs are ambulant as well now.
Neither
society nor legislation kept pace with all these trends. With
the increase in the number of vehicles on the road and the
increase in the use of both licit and illicit drugs, one should
expect a considerable increase in driving while intoxicated.
Indeed, there is increasing evidence that drugs and medicines
may impair driver functioning and increase accident risk.
Little is known, even approximately, about the impact on societal
losses. First of all because it is unclear what the exact
influence of many substances on performance capabilities is,
and then the relationship with accident likelihood is far
from transparent. Traffic safety is undoubtedly affected by
drug use, the many signs that indicate a strong relationship
can not be neglected, but for the time being the authorities
are in need of methods to expose the puzzle. However, there
is not sufficient knowledge about methods of detection for
roadside enforcement to improve safety.
The CERTIFIED
EU Research Project (DG TREN Contract No RO-98-RS.3054) specifically
aims to contribute to the existing knowledge base, supporting
the development of methods for roadside testing applicable
to driver impairment from licit and illicit drugs. This project
has the following objectives
·
Review impairment and accident risk
evidence for drugs and medicines;
·
Review existing methods of impairment
testing and propose new methods (including pilot studies of
testing efficacy);
·
Formulate verification methodology
for testing methods based on user, legal and operational requirements;
·
Identify key issues relevant to
policy formulation.
The research
work in the project is carried out in three main research
Workpackages. These Workpackages respectively dealt with the
form of impairment and accident risk associated with drugs
and medicines (R1), as well as current methods that may be
applied to roadside impairment testing (R2), and the user,
legal and operational requirements for future roadside testing
protocols (R3). Each of the Workpackages will be elaborated
in summary below, after which the main conclusions from the
project will be drawn.
WorkPackage 1-Impairment and Accident Risk
Deliverable
1: Prioritisation of Drugs and Medicines for the Development
of Roadside Testing
The aim
of the first deliverable (DR1 "Prioritisation of Drugs and
Medicines for the Development of Roadside Testing") was to
prioritise those drugs and medicines, including alcohol, which
represent the greatest risk to road traffic safety.
This prioritisation was achieved by considering
ii.
estimates of exposure within the driving population;
iii.
evidence of association with accident causation.
The prioritisation
is framed within the context of risk relative to other known
accident factors such as fatigue, time of day, speeding, etc.
An overall risk categorisation imposed by drug type as far
as relevant to traffic safety arranges the drugs / drug types
as follows:
·
High Risk = Alcohol, Benziodiazepines,
Cannabis + Alcohol
·
High-Moderate Risk = Cocaine
·
Moderate Risk = Cannabis, Amphetamines
·
Low-Moderate Risk = Opiates,
Methadone, Antihistamines
·
Low Risk = Antidepressants
After
the identification of the principal drugs of concern, both
licit and illicit, preliminary proposals were made on psychometric
methods of impairment testing specific to drug/medicine effects
that may be applicable to roadside testing. The estimated
risk scores can be used to provide a preliminary prioritisation
of the drug groups in terms of relevance to traffic safety.
To this end, a standard metric of risk score ranking is proposed.
This ranking can then be adjusted where there is justification
for rank assignments that are significantly discrepant from
expectations.
With
the exception of cannabis and anti-depressants, the safety
prioritisation of drug groups on the basis of the (developed)
standard metric used is generally in accordance with the preliminary
conclusions made in the section summarising the absolute risk.
The calculated risk score and initial ranking in the high
priority group (*) of cannabis may have been exaggerated.
The reasons for this are (i) the concurrent use of alcohol
with cannabis (although this is likely not unique to this
drug); and (ii) the inflated representation of cannabis in
accident cases due to the longevity of detected metabolites
in the system. Instead, cannabis may then be, and in
fact is considered as belonging to the medium priority
group. Similarly, the initial ranking as medium priority
(**) of antidepressants may have been exaggerated by not
taking into account the fact that (i) new generation medications
have less impairing effects, and (ii) the depressive persons
may drive better with these anti-depressants than if not medicated.
Thus, (new generation) anti-depressants should be considered
a low priority.
In the
case of opiates, the risk priority may be exaggerated by the
estimated risk scores from this table because it does not
(i) take account of the high tolerance level experienced by
chronic users; nor (ii) the potential for addicts to refrain
from driving. Moreover, there is suspicion that the prioritisation
of amphetamines may be underestimated because of its effect
on mood and risk perception that may reduce inhibitions and
increase multiple drug use (including alcohol).
The present
safety prioritisation of drug groups on the basis of the standard
metric is
·
High Priority* = Alcohol, Benzodiazepines
·
Medium Priority** = Amphetamines,
Opiates, Cocaine, Cannabis*
·
Low Priority = Methadone, Antihistamines,
Antidepressants**
These
estimates should NOT be considered as definitive indications
of accident risk because of assumptions underlying the reliability,
validity and generality of the parameter data (see DR1, Caveats
Section). For example, the impairment estimates (A)
are based on different numbers of studies with varying methods
and reliability. Moreover, this method does not consider
the magnitude or relevance of the impairment to driving performance
and safety. The exposure data (B) is derived from different
countries, which may confound case populations and methods
of screening. And the outcome measure (C) may not be
a valid or reliable (significant) indicator of the causal
involvement of the drug in traffic accidents. Furthermore,
the method of extrapolating missing values may be erroneous.
Indeed, the boundaries between priority categories are arbitrary,
and the method of categorisation based on this risk metric
may imply a linearity of scaling that is not appropriate.
As such,
this exercise is to be considered ONLY reasonable as a first
approximation of (relative) accident risk for the purpose
of approximating a rank ordering of drugs for the purpose
of this project. The primary objective was to select candidate
drugs on the basis of safety priority with which to pilot
potential impairment testing methods (and target areas for
future research). In this case, it would seem sensible to
attempt to use candidates from the high (i.e. alcohol) or
medium (i.e. MDMA, (±)
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine also known as ecstasy)
priority categories for pilot studies of impairment testing
methods. Pilot studies of candidate methods of roadside testing
with these high and medium group drugs were carried out in
WP2 (Roadside Testing Methods). These studies used alcohol
and MDMA as exemplary priority drug types in terms of traffic
safety. The aim of the pilot study was to better understand
some of the main variables important in devising a roadside
test. The limited time available and size of the programme
precluded development of a new purpose-designed test. The
candidate tests (OMEDA and Vienna) were therefore selected
from those available and recommended through consultation
with the CERTIFIED consortium.
3. WorkPackage
2-Roadside Testing Methods
Deliverable
2a: Roadside impairment testing methods
Deliverable
2b: A Pilot Study of Impairment Testing of MDMA with a Computer-Based
Task
The reports
2a and 2b together form the major deliverable DR2 for Workpackage
R2. The part 2a contains a summary of the literature
review for roadside impairment testing methods together with
the background to the pilot study. Some tests are proposed
below. Part 2b, also summarised below contains the results
of trials, together with data interpretation and a discussion
of the way forward for impairment testing.
Tests
of driving ability tend to fall into three types: laboratory
tests, driving simulators, and on-the-road tests, each with
advantages and disadvantages.
Laboratory tests are generally
reliable, controllable, sensitive, safe, cheap, and convenient,
and with sufficient imagination, almost any laboratory test
can somehow be related to some aspect of driving. However,
the predictive validity of laboratory tests is poor, and very
few tests have any adequate theoretical or empirical justification.
Simulators
range from marginally dressed-up laboratory tests to sophisticated
devices capable of reproducing most features of driving in
a realistic traffic environment. Although no demarcation is
available, the former type of simulators should actually not
be categorised as such, while the latter are only worth the
label if they fulfil yet unspecified but high demands of validity.
In that case they require considerable investments in time
and money, the best are several times more expensive than
a real, instrumented vehicle. Their advantages are that they
give a high level of reproducibility and they are safe. However,
the latter may actually be a disadvantage as well, if concern
for safety is considered a motivator for driver behaviour
research. Their disadvantages are that no matter how expensive
they are, they cannot faithfully reproduce every aspect of
driving, and most of them may be deficient in some vital aspects,
e.g. kinaesthetic cues, peripheral vision. Only very few simulators
in the world fulfil these requirements. Most simulators may
be suitable for some forms of basic training, but there are
definite limits to the amount of skill transfer.
Real
vehicles are generally considered to be more valid than laboratory
tests or simulators, but they do have problems of their own.
Set-piece tests with real vehicles permit some degree of experimental
control, but are artificial since, while real driving may
involve such manoeuvres, it does not do so under tightly controlled
experimental conditions. Using real vehicles on the
highway has been proposed as the ultimate answer, but has
two main disadvantages. First, other traffic, and interactions
with it are largely uncontrollable; second, the tests are
artificial since the subject is aware that he/she is being
studied, either by instrumentation or by human observers.
Safety is of course also an issue.
For impairment
testing by the roadside, neither real vehicles nor simulators
are appropriate, and the choice really falls on laboratory-type
tests. There are of two main types.
The first
type comprises tests of drug effects on psychological performance
such as attention, vigilance, cognitive function such as spatial
and temporal information processing, and psychomotor function
such as tracking and reaction time. Examples, described in
the DR2a report include
·
the Schuhfried Vienna Test System;
·
the Leeds University Object Movement
Estimation under Divided Attention (OMEDA) test;
·
the Advisory Group on Aerospace
Research and Development (AGARD) Standardisation Tests for
Research into Environmental Stress (STRES) Battery;
·
the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR)
test battery;
·
the CeNeS Cambridge Neuropsychological
Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).
The second
type comprises tests of drug effects on physiological and
psychological function such as blood pressure, body temperature,
pulse rate, pupil size, eye movements, and balance and co-ordination.
Examples described in the report include
·
the United States Standardised Field
Sobriety Test (SFST)
·
tests from the US Drug Evaluation
and Classification (DEC) programme
Some
of these tests have been submitted to roadside trials by UK
Police Forces.
From
the Inception Phase of the project, the EC requested that
a small-scale pilot study should be carried out to provide
experience with testing methods that may be applicable to
roadside testing. Workpackage R1 provided a review of the
accident risk with drugs, and recommended alcohol and MDMA
as sample drugs representing high and moderate risk categories.
The present paragraph summarises the methodology used in the
planned pilot studies and presents the analysis of results
from this pilot study and other relevant evidence of impairment
testing.
The pilot
study was completed by two Dutch institutions within the CERTIFIED
consortium. The University of Maastricht performed psychometric
and psycho-physiological testing of alcohol and MDMA under
double-blind laboratory conditions. In addition to standard
psychometric testing of psychomotor performance (e.g., pursuit
tracking), the Maastricht study incorporated a new test method
devised by the University of Leeds (the OMEDA test, i.e. Object
Movement Estimation under Divided Attention).
Based on a top-down theoretical account of intersection accidents,
this test has been formulated to test effects of age and dementia
on higher level cognitive functions including working memory,
time-to-contact estimates, collision judgements and divided
attention. The application of this specific method to the
test of MDMA effects seemed suitable after the literature
survey (2a) and the MDMA literature data base. The University
of Groningen carried out a driving simulator test of MDMA
effects upon traffic safety, amongst house party visiting
(young) people, in conjunction with the Maastricht study,
to validate the laboratory data (De Waard et al., 2000).
The performance
measures showed dissociate effects of MDMA. There was simultaneous
improvement and impairment of performance on different tasks.
Improvement of performance relative to placebo was clearly
seen on the psychomotor task measuring compensatory tracking
performance. In addition, the divided attention version of
this task, when it is combined with peripheral signal detection
showed improvement under the influence of MDMA, while alcohol
effects on errors in this task tended to be negative. Impaired
performance under the influence of MDMA was seen on the OMEDA
task. The essence of this task was also divided attention,
but its unique component was the perception of object movement
and the subsequent estimation of object movement without vision,
i.e. time perception. In particular, the performance on a
Time-To-Contact Estimation subtask was impaired under the
influence of MDMA. In depth analysis of the effects of MDMA
on this task showed that the MDMA influence was especially
pertinent when movement of the object was occluded. This is
perhaps indicative of the subjects' impairment under MDMA
to adequately make a mental representation of the events in
time. MDMA improves psychomotor function, but impairs time
perception.
The driving
simulator test largely confirmed these findings, showing that
psychomotor functioning, i.e. steering and manoeuvring in
traffic, was not impaired after MDMA, but judgements in gap-acceptance
and car-following tasks were impaired to a dangerous level.
4. WorkPackage
3-Roadside Testing Requirements
Deliverable
3: Roadside Testing Requirements
Before
starting testing procedures, in some countries in Europe the
police need an "initial suspicion" to take measures from a
driver suspected of DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol
or drugs). Given such a suspicion, the policemen at first
will offer a breath alcohol pre-test to the driver. If the
pre-test shows an alcohol concentration above the legal limits,
no further investigations concerning illicit or licit drugs
are done in most cases. If, however, the pre-test shows an
alcohol concentration that does not relate to the driving
or behavioural decrements observed (especially in the case
that the breath test shows 0 %) a suspicion of the influence
of drugs other than alcohol may emerge. As a result of missing
test procedures concerning the influence of illicit or licit
drugs, only those few drivers that show clearly recognisable
conspicuous behaviour are processed for drug testing beyond
breath testing.
A cost-effective
way of combating drug-impaired driving might be found by combining
roadside impairment testing and drug recognition by well-trained
police officers, optional screening of body fluids, and blood
analysis for evidentiary purposes.
Roadside
test methods to detect impaired drivers are of different kinds.
They may be categorised as behavioural observation, either
related or not related to vehicle handling, performance tests,
either with special devices or without, physiological tests
and toxicological tests. The tests should fulfil a series
of quality criteria concerning practicability, suitability
and analytical soundness. The methodology should possess reliability
and validity, including content, construct and criterion validity,
as well as face validity so that the test appears to be a
fair test of driving ability to subjects and administrators.
An adequate normative database is necessary as well.
With
respect to the incidence of drugs, other than alcohol, several
studies have been carried out among the EU driving population.
Of the drivers involved in a German study, 1.4% tested positive
for illicit drugs, predominantly cannabis and opiates. Another
4.1% tested positive for licit drugs, mostly benzodiazepines.
In the Netherlands, 4% of the drivers randomly stopped at
Friday and Saturday night tested positive for cannabis and
1.4% for other drugs. Only 1% tested positive for prescription
drugs, mainly benzodiazepines. Among young male drivers (18-24
years old), 15.3% tested positive for illicit drugs. For the
same group the relative risk of alcohol intoxication turned
out to be 6.1, as opposed to 3.9 for the total.
In a
survey among European experts it was estimated that 1-2% of
the EU general driving population are positive for illicit
drugs, whereas approximately 10% are positive for impairing
prescription drugs. As far as incidence of drugs in road accident
fatalities is concerned, recently strong increases are reported,
from 3% in 1985-1987 to 17.4% in 1996-1999. The incidence
of illegal BACs, on the other hand, decreased from 25% to
20%, whereas the incidence of prescription drugs remained
stable: 5.5% in the period 1995-1997 versus 5.8% in the period
1996-1999. However, the results of these European epidemiological
studies do not permit an assessment of the accident (or injury
or fatality) risk of drug-driving, since all of the studies
focused on either the general driving population or accident-involved
drivers/riders. Neither case-control studies nor culpability
studies have been conducted, to date. Based on studies outside
Europe, it can be concluded that users of most psycho-active
drugs other than alcohol have an enhanced fatality risk, but
that the fatality risk of alcohol intoxication is approximately
three times as high. The effects of cannabis alone on road
safety are still unclear, although recent culpability studies
seem to indicate that THC-concentrations exceeding 2 ng/l
have an adverse effect.
Based
on all information gathered, it is possible to make some rough
estimates on fatality risks:
·
82% of all drivers are drug- and
alcohol-free, having a relative fatality risk of 1;
·
12% are drug-positive, having a
relative fatality risk of 2;
·
5% are alcohol-positive (BAC >
0.5 g/l), having a relative fatality risk of 6;
·
1% are alcohol- and-drug-positive,
having a relative fatality risk of 9.
The total
economic cost of all types of road accidents (fatalities,
injuries, and material damage only) is estimated to be 100
billion Euro (including the estimated cost of unreported accidents).
This equals an economic cost of 2.22 million per reported
fatality. The total socio-economic cost, including value of
human life, is calculated to be 162 billion, equalling 3.6
million per reported fatality (Commission of the European
Community, 2000)
Drug-driving
on EU roads would then cause 8.2% of all road fatalities,
equalling an economic cost of 8.2 billion, and a socio-economic
cost of 13.2 billion. Drink-driving would cause 17.2% of road
fatalities, equalling an economic cost of 17.2 billion, and
a socio-economic cost of 27.9 billion. And, finally, combined
drink/drug-driving would cause 5.5% of road fatalities, equalling
an economic cost of 5.5 billion, and a socio-economic cost
of 8.9 billion (Commission of the European Communities, 2000).
5. Conclusions
The measurement
of drug impairment is complicated by a large number of variables.
The relevance of a test procedure to driving impairment depends
on the psychometric properties of the test: sensitivity, reliability
and validity. There are also definite constraints with respect
to practicality and robustness that have to be considered
when selecting adequate tests. In addition, the sheer number
and diversity of tests is such that distilling them down into
one valid test for roadside testing of the effects of drugs
on driving is very difficult.
However,
a first step is definitely needed to get things started. The
easiest roadside test to implement in the short term would
be one capable of detecting gross impairments, as individual
differences in performance are likely to mask more subtle
effects. If roadside testing is to act as a deterrent to driving
under the influence of drugs it will be necessary to establish
in the laboratory safe levels of at least the most commonly
used drugs. This together with a test to detect drug levels
accurately would deter motorists in the same way as the breathalyser,
which it would also augment. Alcohol sets an example of setting
defined limits and validation, providing an example of how
the effects of a drug on driving can be measured and characterised
in the laboratory and in driving situations (including simulators).
Psychologists
differ on which test of impairment is best because there is
no absolute standard to the behaviour that it tries to measure.
There are also practical constraints in devising a suitable
test for roadside use. To date, there has been little effort
to develop suitable methods of roadside testing of impairment,
especially methods based on objective instrumentation. This
project has attempted to undertake a preliminary investigation
of some candidate technologies that could potentially be applied
to future methods of roadside impairment testing.
No readily
available test was found, however. The DRT/FIT test, currently
available "off the shelf" has a number of disadvantages, including
time and effort involved, user training requirements, subjectivity
in recording, paperwork, and lack of quantification. The DRT/FIT
test does however appear to work in preliminary trials and
has shown good overall correlation with positive drug detection
(being based on a well-established US methodology). Its feature
of a composite set of measurements has the advantage of detecting
(if not fully distinguishing) the often subtle differences
in effects produced by drugs on different individuals. Recent
trials with cannabis show a correlation between the DRT/FIT
test and degraded performance on a driving simulator, indicating
a risk to driving and the potential importance of being able
to test for impairment. It is about to be recommended for
adoption in the UK, which will make it the first impairment
test to be introduced in the EU. The DRT/FIT test may set
a baseline for evaluation of new techniques such as the relatively
new OMEDA test. The implication of the OMEDA test finding
that MDMA improves psychomotor function, but impairs time
perception, confirmed and validated by the driving simulator
study, is that under certain conditions OMEDA seems a suitable
method to test effects of MDMA in the field. As such, it constitutes
a candidate test for the roadside assessment of drug-impaired
driving ability. The extent to which other drug effects can
be reliably and consistently measured and distinguished with
this test at the roadside remains to be established and validated.
In terms
of future development, cannabis is a common moderate risk
drug, less traffic safety affecting than the other high prevalence
types of drugs, alcohol, and benzodiazepines. It is however
a high priority drug in terms of its increasing use by drivers
and the increasingly common habit of using it together with
alcohol. If a test were devised starting with cannabis, it
should then be possible to extend our understanding of the
effects of other drugs. Similar reasoning can be applied to
moderate priority drugs such as amphetamines (e.g. ecstasy).
The impairing effects of alcohol alone, as well as drugs and
alcohol in combination need to be detected.
The relative
importance of drugs as a road safety problem depends on the
relative incidence of drugs as a causative factor compared
with other possible causative factors, such as inappropriate
speed. Current methods of detection in Europe are for detecting
either the consumption or impairment due to drugs at the roadside.
In the absence of widespread police training in recognising
driver impairment due to drugs, and the absence of reliable
and convenient roadside screening devices for drugs, it is
not surprising that drugs as a contributory factor is reported
to be only 0.3%. This is almost certainly a substantial underestimate.
In the absence of techniques to improve quantification of
drug driving the true figure can only be speculated upon,
but a reasonable lower and upper estimate would be 1% and
3% respectively. The extreme end of this range places drugs
as a priority relative to other major accident factors.
Due to
the fact that, to date, detecting and proving drug-driving
is a lot more expensive and time-consuming than detecting
and proving drink-driving, it is estimated that the cost of
increased drug-driving enforcement equals at least twice the
cost of increased drink-driving enforcement. The cost per
avoided drug-related fatality can be estimated on the basis
of the Commission's estimated cost of increased drink-driving
enforcement. Assuming that the number of alcohol-related fatalities
would drop by 1,000 (= 10% of all alcohol-related fatalities),
the cost per avoided alcohol-related fatality is estimated
to be 100,000-1,000,000 Euro. Correspondingly, the cost of
increased drug-driving enforcement and campaigns can be estimated
at 333,000-3,333,000 Euro per avoided drug-related fatality
(1,000/600 x twice the cost per avoided alcohol-related fatality).
This means that increased drug-driving enforcement and campaigns
probably will not comply with the "1 Million Test", which
is maintained as the cost-effectiveness criterion for measures
promoting EU road safety (Commission of the European Communities,
2000). Large-scale drug-driving enforcement, regardless of
the degree of impairment, would require a considerable amount
of police and court capacity, which is difficult at short
notice in most countries. If no extra capacity would be made
available for this purpose, drug-driving enforcement would
probably be at the expense of other traffic law enforcement
activities, and particularly of drink-driving enforcement.
As a result of the lower risk of apprehension for drink-driving,
the total number of alcohol-related accidents might increase
instead of decrease. The economic cost of even small increases
of drink-driving and of alcohol-related fatalities would outweigh
the economic benefit of a 10% reduction of drug-driving and
of drug-related fatalities as in the example. In fact, a 6%
increase of drink-driving would undo the economic benefit
of the 10% reduction of drug-driving. Probably, it will be
more feasible to meet the "1 Million Test" criterion by specifically
aiming drug-driving enforcement activities at clearly impaired
drivers. Limiting enforcement activities to specific groups,
especially at times and places where enhanced illicit drug
use can be expected (week-end nights and mornings, near well-known
places where illicit drugs are consumed on a large scale)
would be particularly beneficial. A reduction of drug-related
accidents can be expected of a measure which is not specifically
directed at reducing drug-driving but at reducing drink-driving
by subgroups of drivers who tend to combine alcohol and drug
use. An example of such a measure is a lowering of the legal
BAC-limit for young (or novice) drivers to 0.2 g/l.
The results
(and the associated caveats) do highlight the need for additional
research to provide the types of evidence necessary to derive
a more definitive categorisation of accident risk from drugs
and medicines in Europe. The urgent need for research follow
up from the ROSITA and CERTIFIED projects is clear, together
with police training and commercial or institutional development
of suitable roadside screening devices for drugs.
References
Clarke,
A., Riedel, W.J. (2000). Roadside impairment testing
methods. Project Deliverable DR2a, CERTIFIED EU Research
Project (Contract No RO-98-RS.3054), School of Psychology,
University of Leeds.
Commission
of the European Communities (2000). Priorities in EU Road
Safety. Progress Report and Ranking of Actions. Communication
from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament,
the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions. COM (2000) final, Brussels.
De
Waard, D., Brookhuis, K.A., Pernot, L.M.C., Lamers, C.T.J.,
Booij, L., Sikkema, K.L., Munttjewerff, N.D., Vuurman, E.F.P.M.,
Riedel, W.J. (2000). Een onderzoek naar de effecten van
MDMA (Ecstasy) op cognitieve- en psychomotorische functies,
rijgedrag in de rijsimulator, en consequenties voor
de verkeersveiligheid. Rapport COV 00-06. Groningen, Centrum
voor Omgevings- en Verkeerspsychologie, Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen.
Franzén, S., Berghaus, G.,
Clark, A., Mathijssen, M.P.M., Tunbridge, R. (2000). Roadside
Testing Requirements. Project Deliverable DR3,
CERTIFIED EU Research Project (Contract No RO-98-3054), School
of Psychology, University of Leeds.
Riedel, W.J., Lamers C.T.J.
(2000). A Pilot Study of Impairment Testing of MDMA with
a Computer-Based Task. Project Deliverable DR2b,
CERTIFIED EU Research Project (Contract No RO-98-RS.3054),
School of Psychology, University of Leeds.
Tunbridge, R., Clarke, A.,
Ward, N., Dye, L., Berghaus, G. (2000). Prioritising
drugs and medicines for development of roadside impairment
testing. Project Deliverable DR1, CERTIFIED EU Research
Project (Contract No RO-98-3054), School of Psychology, University
of Leeds.
Wetherell,
A. (1999). A Review of the Characteristics and Principles
of Tests
for the Roadside Testing of Drug Impaired Drivers. Deliverable
R2 Task 2.1 CERTIFIED EU Research Project (Contract No RO-98-RS.3054),
School of Psychology, University of Leeds.
|
CERTIFIED
Contract
No RO-98-RS.3054
Project
Co-ordinator:
N.J. WARD
School of Psychology, University of Leeds
WP
Leader:
K.A. Brookhuis, RUG
Authors:
K.A. Brookhuis
W.
Riedel
M.
Mathijssen
R.
Tunbridge
A.
Clark
N.
Ward
L.
Dye
G.
Berghaus
Report
No:
CERTIFIED
A3 (DR4)
Date:
September, 2000
|
|
Project Funded by the European Commission under
the
Transport RTD Programme of the 4th Framework Programme
School of Psychology, UNIV LEEDS
DOCUMENT CONTROL INFORMATION
The
CERTIFIED EU Research Project (DG TREN Contract
No RO-98-RS.3054) aimed to contribute to the existing
knowledge base concerning drugs and traffic safety,
supporting the development of methods for roadside
testing applicable to driver impairment from licit
and illicit drugs. The project had the following
objectives:
·
Review impairment and
accident risk evidence for drugs and medicines;
·
Review existing methods
of impairment testing and propose new methods (including
pilot studies of testing efficacy);
·
Formulate verification
methodology for testing methods based on user, legal
and operational requirements;
·
Identify key issues relevant
to policy formulation.
Three
Workpackages respectively dealt with;
1)
the nature of impairment and accident risk
associated with drugs and medicines;
2)
current methods that may be applied to roadside
impairment testing;
3)
the user, legal and operational requirements
for future roadside testing protocols.
A
preliminary safety prioritisation of drug groups
on the basis of a newly developed (standard) metric
is:
·
High Priority = Alcohol,
Benzodiazepines
·
Medium Priority = Amphetamines,
Opiates, Cocaine, Cannabis
·
Low Priority = Methadone,
Antihistamines, Antidepressants
To
meet the established requirements of a new, suitable
roadside test, it is likely that it comprises several
types of measurement in a standardised format. Account
should be taken of both within- and between-subject
variances of drivers, and an adequate normative
database needs to be established. The test should
maximise the chances of detection while keeping
the number of false positives to a minimum.
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