Drunk drivers to attend mandatory DUI courses

The drivers who will be found positive for alcohol or drugs will have to attend and complete a Driving Under Influence (DUI) program which, in addition, they will have to pay for, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Parliament on Thursday approved in first reading relevant amendments to the alcohol-and-drug-control law in a bid to crackdown on these dangerous offenders. As stated in the draft amendment, the drivers will have to undergo medical examination before being declared intoxicated. The evidence collected by the traffic officers will be taken into account in pronouncing the medical conclusion. Driving schools will be obliged to include an 8-hour DUI course in their curricula. Under the new requirements, all the persons who have completed driving courses will be issued with a driver's license only after undergoing a medical exam at the National Drug and Alcohol Dispensary or at territorial dispensaries. The exam and the diagnosis will have to be paid for. Attending the Parliament's sitting, Deputy Health Minister Boris Golovin said that in 2007 some 10,000 drivers were found positive for alcohol and 300 for drugs.