Despite signing an EU road safety declaration pledging to step up enforcement on drug-driving abuses, the government would not say if it intends to introduce roadside tests any time soon.
The issue was recently brought to the fore by a non-governmental organisation which warned that existing drug-driving legislation was woefully inadequate.
Though the Malta Traffic Regulation Ordinance says that impaired driving under the influence of drugs (defined as any intoxicants other than alcohol) is a criminal offence, there are no established drug limits along the same lines that exist for alcohol.
Anna Maria Vella, who chairs the National Centre for Freedom from Addictions within the President’s Foundation for the Well-being of Society, sounded the alarm bells in an interview published last month by this newspaper.
The expert, who has been working with substance abusers for 21 years, also vented her frustration that no feedback had been ever given to them by the government on a set of recommendations they had submitted in the form of a research document last May.
The government will adopt any measures which prove to be effective
The NGO had called on the government to set the ball rolling through a six-month pilot project to establish how widespread the problem was, before introducing limits together with roadside tests.
The interview was published a few days before a stakeholders’ meeting on maritime and road safety which was held in Malta as part of the EU Council presidency programme. Subsequently, on March 29, EU transport ministers issued a joint declaration in which they pledged to take measures to reduce road fatalities and improve safety.
The declaration acknowledges that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs continues to be one of the major causes of road traffic collisions. Moreover, the ministers agreed to apply a wide-ranging array of instruments to beef up enforcement.
In particular the ministers committed themselves to “effectively enforce road safety rules and provide support to road enforcement bodies, including through cooperation and exchanged of best practices, in particular with regard to speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” and a several other traffic contraventions.
Though this commitment was undertaken by Transport Minister Joe Mizzi, the issue of enforcement falls under the responsibility of the Justice Ministry.
Contacted by the Times of Malta, a ministry spokeswoman was non-committal as to whether the recommendations made by the NGO would be implemented.
While welcoming the research document “as an important basis for tackling the problem of drug-driving,” the justice ministry said that it was following developments in this field both in Malta and abroad.
“The government will adopt any practical measures which prove to be effective particularly in the roadside control of drug-driving,” the spokeswoman said.
She noted that the subject had also been raised recently during a parliamentary debate on a Bill to amend the Traffic Regulation Ordinance. This reform was part of a process to bring road traffic regulations and standards in line with what emerges as a rather common European approach she said.
However, the Bill made no mention of drug-driving offences. Though this is a criminal offence, offenders are often charged with negligent driving due to various loopholes in the law.
Apart from a lack of roadside testing facilities, for the police to obtain any kind of intimate sample, like urine, sweat or saliva [to test for drugs] at present, they need authorisation from the duty magistrate, which is practically impossible to get on the spot.