Roadside Testing

Despite numerous tests, the government has yet to authorise the use of a hand held drug testing device that can be used by the police at the roadside.
 
At the moment the police are stuck with the old fashioned method of conducting a Field Impairment Test in order to establish whether a person is under the influence of drugs. The most commonly known test is the one leg test.  This is where the officer gets a person to stand on one leg for a set period of time whilst they observe them. There are also four other tests that make up the impairment test; 

• Measuring the size of your pupils
• Getting you to walk and turn
• Testing your balance and judgment (The Romberg Test)
• Getting you to touch the tip of your nose with your finger 

Tests at a Police Station

If the police suspect you of drug driving or you fail the roadside test and you are arrested, you will be taken to the police station where a further series of tests will be conducted by a doctor or a nurse. If they form the opinion that you are under the influence of drugs, the police may require you to provide a specimen of blood or urine, which would then be sent to a laboratory for analysis. For further information regarding the procedures that relate to blood and urine samples, please feel free to take a look at our Drink driving (blood or urine) page.

You may have been provided with a part of the blood or urine sample by the police in order for you to obtain your own independent analysis. It is very important that any sample obtained is analysed by an independent specialist within a specific time frame. This independent analysis can help your defence enormously - you should not wait but immediately have a properly organised test undertaken by an independent third party.

We can recommend you to an expert analyst - call us on 0345 872 6666 to discuss your next steps.

If the independent analysis of your blood or urine sample produces a reading that shows a minimal trace of a drug or no trace at all this information can be used to challenge the reading obtained by the police.

 It is also very important that the sample is analysed by a forensic expert who can not only comment on the analysis of your part of the blood sample but also comment on the analysis conducted by the laboratory on behalf of the police.  We are able to help you choose an appropriate defence analyst.