Intoxicated drivers to be sanctioned after lab tests only

Intoxicated drivers will be sanctioned only after laboratory investigations, and not after the conclusion of the specialised doctors, working together with the mobile teams of the Road Police (RP). This is the demand of the Prosecutor’s General Office. According to the prosecutors, specialised doctors of the Expertise and Intoxication Department of the Republican Narcology Centre (DNR) participated in the raids organised by the RP. Despite the second point of the Instruction on the procedure of performing the medical expertise for establishing the intoxication level, they applied the conclusion “intoxicated” immediately, without performing lab tests. They based their conclusions on the odour or the words of the drivers who admitted they consumed alcohol or drugs. On June 8 2006, during a raid performed in the municipality of Chisinau, the doctor labelled several drivers “intoxicated”, even though they were not investigated in the laboratory. After they submitted petitions, it was found that they were not intoxicated. The Municipal Prosecutor’s Office urged the leadership of DNR to stop the violations admitted by the doctors of this institution. The head of the Chisinau RP Grigore Guzun says that the fines of MDL 800 are not an impediment to drunken drivers. He says the legislation must be urgently amended and the sanctions must be hardened, by increasing the fines and cancelling the driving license for a longer period. According to the inspector of the Chisinau Road Security Service Ion Roscovanu, road inspectors register 5-20 cases of intoxicated drivers daily. The drivers are deprived of the driving license for a period of one year, also paying a fine of about MDL 800, Info-Prim Neo reports.