More and more caught

How police drug checks work

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was present at a check.(Bild: Polizei OÖ)

The number of drug drivers who are taken off the roads in Upper Austria has been rising steadily for years, with reports doubling in five years. This is also due to the fact that the police have upgraded their equipment and there are more and more priority checks.

The network is becoming ever more tightly meshed and with it the number of drug drivers caught on the roads. The local police currently have 90 trained specialists throughout Upper Austria, and at least one preliminary drug test is available in every district. As a result, there were 4300 reports of drug-related road traffic offenses in 2019, compared to 8700 in the previous year.

How it works
And this is how a check works: At the beginning, the police officer carrying out the check always suspects that the driver is impaired by drugs. This is followed by a preliminary drug test and, in the event of a positive test, an examination by a doctor as part of a clinical examination. If the clinical examination reveals a suspicion of drug impairment, a blood test is carried out. If this is positive, the driver's license may be revoked.

Minister of the Interior satisfied
"Police specialists for the detection of drugged drivers make an important contribution to road safety," said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner on the fringes of the priority check in Schwertberg.