Impact
Contribution to standards and policy developments
Many of the members of the consortium are represented in numerous national and international committees and boards. This guarantees an efficient dissemination of the results to the scientific community and governmental organisations. Additionally the results will continuously be presented at national and international workshops.
The experimental studies in DRUID focus on certain drug categories, for example stimulant and hypnotic drugs, that are often indicated in epidemiological surveys to increase crash risk. Their main objective is to determine tolerance levels by assessing drug effects on driving performance as a function of dose, time after drug administration and duration of use. Drug concentrations will be assessed in blood and saliva and will contribute to the second objective of establishing the relation between drug plasma/saliva levels and driving impairment. Results from the experimental studies thus will identify cognitive and psychomotor skills subject to drug induced impairment and establish associated drug concentrations. Both are highly relevant to EU countries that are developing drug-driving legislation based on either a drug-threshold approach similar to alcohol, or the impairment approach.
The results of DRUID regarding information on the enhanced accident risks while driving under the influence of psychoactive substances, alone or in combination, will aim at supporting the European Transport Policy for setting impairment thresholds for the most common substances. Hopefully, this will lead to standardisation and harmonisation of the laws towards impaired driving all over Europe.
Drivers impaired by drugs must be detected by specific testing methods. These methods are not standardised and they are also very time consuming. In DRUID screening devices and methods to detect impairment are evaluated both from a scientific perspective and an operational police perspective. Both evaluations will be used to describe a good police practice and formulate an advice on effective legislation to reduce drugged driving and effective enforcement based on good practice and scientific research. Such an activity is innovative in Europe and can contribute to the EU policy to reduce the number of persons killed and injured at traffic accidents on European roads.
This objective of reduced deaths and injuries will as well be supported by offering the detected drivers tailored rehabilitation measures which aim at regaining the driving ability. To reach this aim, EU-wide investigations about rehabilitative and therapeutical measures will take place, their analyses and evaluations will lead to recommendations of good rehabilitation practice.
The European Road Safety Action Programme as well as many of the national safety programmes within the European states is stressing the importance and effectiveness of the different enforcement measures to improve road safety. Enforcement is one of the most cost effective measures and needs no investment as changes in road infrastructure and vehicles do. In order to implement the Traffic Enforcement Recommendation the comparable system of withdrawal and best practice is needed. The results of DRUID regarding information on the use of the measure in different Member States alone and best practice of the measure incorporated in the EU and national legislation will support the Traffic Enforcement Recommendation and European Transport Policy.
As an effective tool to harmonise European regulations there are criteria and a methodology elaborated to establish a European classification and labelling system of medicinal drugs and driving.
The protocols and guidelines that will be developed for health care professionals will support the acceptance of standards in medical and pharmaceutical care, in relation to patient safety and the safe use of medicines. These are topics that have been defined as key issues by WHO and the international organisations of pharmacists and physicians. The development of standards of practice based on the various deliverables will be one of the significant outcomes of this Work package 7.
The deliverables of Work package 7 will be used to improve training of health care professionals and patient education in particular risk communication to solve societal problems related to drug related traffic injuries and deaths. Prevention of personal and societal damage will be based on more emphasis to use relatively safer psychotropic drugs, if available, and to improve warnings and advises to patients how to act responsibly if using psychotropic medication or substances that have the potential to impair driving.
In policy making DRUID will provide those who want to change legislation with respect to the general introduction of appropriate, harmonised pictograms and medical packaging, based on the European classification of drugs according to their effects, with tools that will increase the general awareness among the general public, patient groups and health care professionals.
Contribution to the European Research Area
DRUID as an Integrated Project brings together not only the most prominent researchers on this topic throughout Europe but also will conduct several large scale studies on the road. In different member countries, police will stop several thousands of drivers and test them for psychoactive substances.
Hospitals are involved with injured drivers. The study will evoke public interest and will lead to extended public discussions. Therefore, DRUID itself can be looked at as a large prevention program. The same holds true for the political and administrative authorities. They are partners in Work package 6, where the different legal and administrative solutions were collected, discussed and transferred into a proposal of best practice. The communication between the researchers of the Member States will itself produce an extended network.
As 18 Member States of the EU and Norway participate in DRUID, the geographical coverage is extensive, a great number of relevant institutes and organisations are involved. These circumstances not only provide a fundamental base for a common view and a broad consensus but moreover will guarantee a widespread dissemination of the results and their easy translation into action.
The participation of new Member States will lead to a fruitful transfer of knowledge. The intense involvement in planning and research activities will strongly support their integration into the European network. Newly founded and growing research institutes in the new Member States will be significantly strengthened. The result will be a mutual gain in competence and knowledge for the whole European Community and a new quality of networking.