Eight times as many
Fight against the increasing number of drugged drivers
The number of charges filed against drivers under the influence of drugs has increased eightfold in the last ten years. Salzburg's regional traffic councillor Stefan Schnöll therefore wants higher penalties and simpler handling.
It is alarming! The Salzburg police report almost daily about drug drivers who have been taken off the road. Transport Minister Stefan Schnöll (ÖVP) wants to change this. Up to now, he had mainly declared war on speeders. This is now also happening to drug drivers. If Schnöll has his way, the controls should be more effective and the penalties significantly increased. The Salzburg native is also campaigning for this in the federal coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and ÖVP.
One problem is the procedure until a driver is convicted of being under the influence of drugs such as cannabis and similar substances. Currently, a rapid test - a saliva test - is carried out by specially trained police officers if they detect impairment. If the result is positive, an examination by the public health officer is planned. Then - if the doctor determines that the driver's ability to drive is impaired - a blood sample is taken. The blood is then analyzed by forensic medicine. The result of this expert opinion is the criminal liability of "driving under the influence of narcotics".
"This is not only a lot of work, but is also extremely inconvenient for a consistent and efficient procedure," says Schnöll, adding: "The assessment, which was previously carried out by the public health officer, should also be able to be carried out by trained police personnel on the basis of rapid tests on site." Last year, 8,227 drug drivers were caught across Austria - eight times more than in 2015.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.