Force gears up to combat drug driving
There have been numerous legislative changes to the Road Traffic Ordinance in recent years, including introduction of Random Breath Testing in 2009 and three-tier penalties for drink driving offences in 2010.
Further legislative changes have been proposed to the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2011 to vest police officers with more powers to effectively combat drug driving. Those new provisions will commence on March 15.
To prepare for the roll out of the new laws, Traffic Branch Headquarters reached an agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers in the UK in 2010 to accredit Hong Kong police officers as instructors for impairment and drug recognition training. There will be about 200 traffic officers trained up as Impairment Testing Officers and Drug Influence Recognition Officers when the new laws commence.
In a bid to further enhance professionalism in combatting drug driving, Senior Inspector (SIP) Mok Chi-man and Sergeant (SGT) Chu Chun-hung were sent to Canada and the USA to receive advanced drug recognition training. They first underwent two-week intensive training in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, before leaving for Phoenix, USA, for a three-day field accreditation process for appointment as a Drug Recognition Expert.
"The instructors told me we were the first group of Asian students receiving such training," said SGT Chu. "The course was very demanding but was undoubtedly an eye-opening experience that we would remember for life," SIP Mok added.
Chief Superintendent (CSP) (Traffic) Steve Verralls commented that the expert status of the officers would give greater credibility to the impairment test regime upon enactment of the new drug driving legislation which would further improve road safety, one of the Commissioner's Operational Priorities. He thanked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office of the State of Arizona for assisting with the two officers' training.
SIP
Mok (right) with two instructors and SGT Chu in Phoenix, USA