The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday.
The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers.
While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
The proposed changes to the regulations require police to video the test, which should be performed at the side of the road, it said.
Officers would be able to demand that drivers present themselves at a law enforcement facility to undergo saliva tests if circumstances do not permit tests to be performed at the side of the road, it added.
Police must immediately inform the driver of their test results and obtain their signature, the ministry said.
A positive result in a saliva drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and their vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 (US$5,857), it said.
The government would confiscate the vehicle of a driver who caused a severe injury or death while driving under the influence of drugs, the ministry said.
A car or motorbike driver who refused a second saliva test within 10 years would be fined up to NT$360,000, while those who refused a third time would be fined another NT$180,000 and lose their license, it said.
The ministry would publish the name and photograph of those who lost their license by refusing to take saliva tests and rescind the license plate of their vehicle for two years, it added.
Drivers of low-speed vehicles — a legal category that includes bicycles, electric bicycles and light electric scooters — must comply with saliva tests or face a NT$4,800 fine, the ministry said.
Light electric scooters could be temporarily confiscated if a driver refuses to comply with the test, it said.
Meanwhile, the ministry on Tuesday said that drivers who commit certain traffic violations more than three times in one year would be required to attend a three-hour class to improve their driving safety awareness starting in March next year.
In a Facebook post, the ministry said the violations include running red lights, failing to observe right of way at intersections with no signals, and not slowing down as required when passing crosswalks, hospitals or schools.
Professional drivers of large commercial vehicles would be required to take the class after two offenses within a year, it said.
The mandate is part of a slew of new traffic regulations to be gradually rolled out next year with the aim of reducing the number of deaths on the road by 7 percent each year, according to a statement by the ministry on Oct. 1.
These include eliminating the true/false questions from the driver’s license test, testing yielding responses in road tests, holding classes for repeat offenders caught driving without a license under the age of 18 and imposing stricter rules for elderly drivers, who would have to renew their driving license at age 70 instead of 75.
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