Motorcyclists to get roadside drugs tests

Motorcyclists and drivers are to be subjected to roadside tests for drugs by a dedicated new police squad.

Suspects will be made to do Field Impairment Tests (FIT) similar to sobriety tests used in the USA.  

Training for officers has included joining overnight patrols in Oakland, California, notorious for high rates of crack cocaine users.

More than 200 officers working for Cheshire Police have been trained in the drug recognition and FIT techniques by the force’s Impaired Driving Unit.

The new unit is based on a similar one which has already proved successful in Hampshire, the Home Office said today (Thursday).

PC Robbie Burns, one of the officers from the new unit, said: “Cheshire Police are committed to a policy of education and enforcement.

“This is why it is so important that we work with our partners to let road users know that drug driving is the evil twin of drink driving.

“The penalties are the same, the punishment is the same and more importantly the results of impaired driving through drugs are just as traumatic as drink driving.”