Russia has proposed testing drivers for alcohol and drugs using rapid saliva tests.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed using new saliva testing devices to detect the presence of alcohol and illegal substances in drivers. A draft government resolution has already been developed and is currently undergoing public consultation.
Based on the test results, a decision will be made on whether to suspend the driver from driving and conduct further intoxication testing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs press service explained.
Moreover, the new devices will be used only with the consent of the citizen, during events to prevent road accidents and with the use of video recording.
“A driver's refusal to undergo a check will not result in administrative liability,” the department emphasized. The Ministry of Internal Affairs estimates that this innovation will “minimize doubts about the objectivity of police officers when assessing drivers” and reduce the number of conflict situations.
Currently, inspectors can only officially rely on a classic breathalyzer with a visually recorded result and signs of intoxication—smell, speech, gait, behavior, unsteadiness, etc. For drug testing, the only legally valid tool remains a medical examination by a doctor.
The new regulation, RBK reports, adds another legal trigger for referrals for medical examinations: readings from devices that don't provide a visual printout to the driver, but are recorded on video and used with their consent. For the first time, the regulations explicitly include saliva as a biomaterial for preliminary drug tests and permit the use of such rapid results as a formal basis for referring a person to a doctor. The difference is that in addition to the classic “blowing into a tube + visual indicators,” new devices—saliva tests—are being added, but only with the driver's consent and a video recording of the procedure.
