Relevance
The short-term strategic objective of the European Commission is to halve the number of fatalities by 2010. The medium-term objective is to cut by around 75 % the number of persons killed or severely injured in road accidents by 2025, while the long term vision is to render road transport as safe as all other modes. It is hoped that supporting research addressing human, vehicle and infrastructure environment could achieve this last strategic target. Research should also combine measures and technologies for prevention, mitigation and investigation of road accidents, paying special attention to high risk and vulnerable user groups, such as children, handicapped people and the elderly. One important strategic component is to continue the efforts to combat the scourge of drink-driving and find solutions to the issue of the use of drugs and medicines1.
Establishing an empirically founded "yardstick" for impairment
Under the perspective of endangering traffic safety, the aggregation of alcohol, illegal drugs and medicines into the class "psychoactive substances" makes sense. Each of these substances influences the motor and cognitive performance of the driver and is therefore able to alter the fitness to drive. DRUID will collect all available data about the effects of the different substances on driving fitness. Identified lacks of knowledge will be filled up with experiments and epidemiological studies within the project. The general aim is to establish a "yardstick", measuring the impairing effect of different substances on a common scale. This scale will yield a basis for rational decisions about which substances in which concentrations can be tolerated in traffic. This yardstick is essentially needed with respect to the rapid development of new substances both in the domain of illegal substances, but even more in the domain of medicines.
Determining prevalence rates and comparing Member States
Analyses of consumption data and frequency in the accident-free traffic will yield prevalence rates for psychoactive substances in the different Member States. This information is urgently needed for the discussion about general and country-specific procedures within the Community.
Risk estimations and definitions for thresholds for the most relevant psychoactive substances
Combining prevalence rates and accident data will yield quantitative estimates for accident risks. This can be expected for alcohol and most of the illegal drugs (for example, cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine), also for the most frequent medicines (like benzodiazepines). These concentration-impairment functions will serve as a rational base for defining concentration thresholds. Additionally, analytical thresholds for most of those substances will be given.
Best practice of controls – Standardisation within the Community
Regulations about psychoactive substances in traffic must be controlled if they should be effective. Control strategies and detection methods must be optimised. This requires training of police officers in drug recognition, development of sensitive and specific detection devices and deliberate use of control strategies. Experiences within the different countries will be collected, evaluated and compiled into standardised procedures to be implemented in the Member States. These common standards will also stimulate the competition within the respective industries to develop reliable detection devices.
Best practice of countermeasures – from sanctions to rehabilitation
Sanctions are necessary, but are only the ultima ratio. The driving population must be informed about the problem (risk / danger) and must be convinced in a way that opens self-responsible behaviour. In case of contraveners, individually tailored rehabilitation measures must be offered. The DRUID project with participants coming from 19 States (18 EU Member States and Norway) is an ideal platform to collect the different attempts made in Europe to combat DUI. An in-depth discussion about the experiences will end in a proposal for a common procedure within the Community.
The special problem of medicines
To provide greater transparency on the impact of psychoactive medicaments on driving fitness a workable classification system has to be found. In DRUID recommendations will be developed for criteria and methodology on establishing an European classification and labelling system of medicinal drugs and driving, as well as for a methodology for continuous update.
New guidelines and the spreading of information
DRUID will make a first attempt to provide a sound basis for using the educational materials by patients who drive and practice guidelines and protocols by physicians who prescribe and pharmacists who dispense those medications. The availability of clear information and sound warnings with respect to the drug categorisation system will contribute to more patient safety and better use of medicines; for health care professionals the application of educational materials, practice guidelines and protocols will allow them to minimise the risk of patients causing traffic accidents while under the influence of psychoactive medication. Health care professionals will also be informed about the potential risk associated with the use of other psychoactive substances than medicines (for example illicit drugs) and alcohol.
Additional educative measures aim at different target groups – elderly drivers, patients with chronic diseases, people under substitution therapy, young drivers (drugs) as to name a few.
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1 White Paper on the Transport Policy of 12 September 2001