Objective
The ROSITA Project will identify the requirements for roadside testing equipment for drugs in body fluids, and make an international comparative assessment of existing equipment or prototypes. This review will address the validity of roadside testing results, reliability and usability of equipment and usage costs.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of the project is to identify the requirements for roadside testing equipment, and to make an international comparative assessment of existing equipment or prototypes. This assessment will address validity of roadside testing results, reliability and usability (practicality) of equipment, and usage costs.
More specifically, the project seeks to answer five key questions:
1. What are the drugs/medicines that are suspected to have a detrimental impact to road-users performance?
2. What is the state-of-the-art of roadside testing equipment for urine, sweat and saliva? Are other tests, which may be used to evaluate the impairment of the driver at the roadside available?
3. What kind of operational, user and legal requirements exist across EU Member States for roadside testing equipment?
4. Which of the tests meet the criteria set in the methodology and experimental design (testing and evaluation of the instruments, validity, equipment reliability, usability (practicality) and usage costs)?
5. What can be recommended for the use of roadside testing equipment in Europe?
METHODOLOGY
The work will be divided into five packages:
1. A literature study will identify drugs and medicines that are suspected to have detrimental impact on road-user performance.
2. A market study on different immunoassays that can be used at the roadside will make an inventory of state-of-the-art roadside testing equipment.
3. Interviews will be performed with police units and police experts on operational and legal aspects of traffic control actions, to identify operational, user and legal requirements across Europe for roadside testing equipment.
4. Based on the results of package 1, 2 and 3 the consortium will develop a methodology and experimental design, and subsequently test and evaluate different equipment. Approximately 3000 tests will be performed on various sites, in eight European countries.
5. The findings of the research will be summarised, to give recommendations for the use of roadside testing equipment in Europe.
BACKGROUND
Road accidents account for almost 45,000 deaths and 1.5 million injures within the EU member states. The costs resulting from road traffic accidents amount to approximately 70 billion Euro annually. While the incidence and the number of alcohol related road accidents is still of prime concern, a new phenomenon is rapidly emerging - road use under the influence of illicit drugs and prescribed medicines. Studies in different Member States have shown that approximately 1% of the road-users has detectable quantities of illicit drugs in their body fluids. This percentage rises to 17% among people injured in traffic accidents and 19% in traffic fatalities.
The detection of drugs in body fluids is much more complex than the detection of alcohol, because of the much lower concentrations and the diversity of the substances. One of the key elements in the law enforcement process is to perform screening tests rapidly at the roadside, in order to take immediate administrative measures (taking the driver's licence, impounding the vehicle) or to select the drivers that will have to undergo venipuncture.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
9000 Gent
Belgium