John MacDonald: Roadside drug testing? Great. Will the police cope? Mmmm

I’m sure you’ll tell me if you think I’m stuck in the past, but I reckon that with the police now being expected to do roadside drug tests —as well as everything else— I think we should bring back the old MOT. The old traffic cops.   Officially, it was known as the traffic safety service, but we all knew it as the MOT.    And, yes, I know the police are struggling as it is to get the 500 new cops by the end of the year that the government has promised. But if they are now going to be expected to do thousands of roadside drug tests —as well as the alcohol tests and writing out tickets for speeding drivers— then I think they should create a separate, dedicated traffic division.   The way the roadside drug testing is going to work is that drivers will do a saliva test. If it’s positive, it’ll be sent to the lab for further testing. As well as that, an extra test will be done on the spot and, if that’s positive as well, the police will order them to stay off the road for 12 hours.   As someone who thinks we should have a zero alcohol limit for drivers, anything to try and catch the clowns who drive stoned is a good thing in my book. Especially when you consider the carnage that has been caused by drivers high on drugs.   Here’s a stat that proves it: in 2022 alone, 112 people died in crashes where drugs were involved. That was about 30% of all road deaths that year.   So the MOT was merged with the police in 1992 and, considering the fact that police are going to be expected to do 50,000 roadside drug tests each year as well as more roadside alcohol tests, change is needed.   The Government’s told them that instead of doing 3 million alcohol tests a year, they’re going to be expected to do 3.3 million – so an extra 300,000.   So 300,000 more alcohol tests, plus the 50,000 roadside drug tests.   I imagine Police Minister Mark Mitchell would say that the police already have a highway patrol, but I don’t think that’s going to be sufficient long-term.    And it’s why I think we should have a genuine, dedicated traffic policing service.  The other aspect of this too is that the Government has told the police that if they don’t meet these roadside testing targets —for the alcohol and for the drugs— they won't get all their funding.   So, full marks to the political parties that voted this drug-testing legislation through, but I think we’re setting the police up to fail if we don't have a re-think about how all this testing is going to be done.   And, for me, the best way to ensure this new law lives up to its promise is to have a dedicated traffic policing service. Like we used to.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.