Roadside Saliva Testing for Drugged Driving to Begin

Your spit could you in a lot of trouble with Michigan State Police if you’re caught driving under the influence of drugs under a one-year pilot program aimed at reducing drugged driving set to begin later this year.

The roadside drug testing program will take place in five yet-to-be named counties, Michigan State Police First Lt. Mike Shaw told WWJ Radio. It was approved in legislation passed in Lansing in response to statistics that show the total number of traffic crashes involving drugs has reached a decade-high in Michigan.

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“We’re seeing throughout the state of Michigan there’s an increase in both drugged driving and drugged driving fatalities,” Shaw told the radio station. “So what this bill does is allows us to have another step in field sobriety process, or the probable cause process, to arrest some of these drugged drivers.”

Troopers won’t be pulling drives over indiscriminately, Shaw said, responding to criticism that State Police may use the program to randomly test people for drug use.

“That’s not the case,” Shaw said, explaining troopers must have probable cause to pull over a driver in a traffic stop.

Image: Samantha Cohen via Flickr / Creative Commons