The EU project DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alciohol and Medicine) unites 21 European countries to combat driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicine.
The number of accidents that can be coupled to psychoactive substances – alcohol, drugs and certain medicines – remains at a high level. It is accidents involving drugs and medicines which have increased most in recent years.
"DRUID is an important project since it adopts a holistic approach to the problem of alcohol and drugs in traffic. In the project we will study the incidence of various substances, their effects and their relationships with risk. A study will also be made of the background to the problem and the way police methods can be improved and medical care and education made more effective. If we want to produce solutions to combat this development, we must create a better understanding of the problem", says Magnus Hjälmdahl at VTI.
More than 40,000 people were killed on European roads in 2000, and 1.7 million were injured in 15 member countries. The goal of EU is to cut traffic fatalities by 50% by 2010. To achieve this goal, the work on alcohol, drugs and medicines is very important.
Important resource in DRUID
VTI’s cooperation in the project comprises both experimental studies using the driving simulator, and field studies in which the incidence of drugs and medicines on the roads will be kept under observation. VTI is also engaged in a subproject which is to study why people drive while under the influence.
In the experimental studies with the driving simulator a number of behavioural studies will be made. Driving behaviour while under the influence of drugs will be studied, with the emphasis on the simultaneous effect of several substances. At VTI, the effect of the combination of drugs and fatigue will be studied.
The intention is that DRUID will describe the extent and nature of the problem. The actual situation is not known at present since police checks are often made when a high incidence of drugs and alcohol is suspected. In DRUID the actual incidence will also be compared with the accident situation so that a measure of the risk may be obtained.
The project will also study how police surveillance can be designed for maximum effectiveness, and also how driver training, information campaigns and rehabilitation can be formulated so that the problem may be prevented right from the beginning.
National and international collaboration
The project engages 38 partners from 21 European countries, with representatives from e.g. r&d institutes, universities and the police. VTI is taking part as the only Swedish partner. In view of the complexity of the project, experts from many areas will be needed, and VTI will cooperate with both the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Linköping and the National Police Board.
The project DRUID comes under the thematic priority ”Sustainable Surface Transport” of the framework programme. DRUID is an Integrated Project in Application Procedure FP6-2004-TREN-3, December 2004.
The project is due to start in January 2006, and most of VTI’s work will be carried out in 2006/2007.
For more information, contact
magnus.hjalmdahl@vti.se
+46 13 20 43 06
0709-430-460