Minister open to changes in drink and drug driving bill

Byron Camilleri said he is open to all amendments to the drink-drug driving bill, provided they retain the spirit of the proposed law.

The home affairs minister was speaking after Labour Party backbencher Edward Zammit Lewis proposed that the law should also account for reckless driving, besides drink and drug driving. He also said the bill should give the judiciary more leeway in sentencing decisions.

Reacting, Camilleri, said: “I am open to amendments. I have one interest and it’s important that the aim remains clear in the final bill that parliament approves – to attack abuse.”

The final law, however, should respect the point of proportionality, he said.

Camilleri said the government’s aim is not to throw people in jail but to create a serious deterrent to dangerous habits behind the wheel.

“We want people to think twice before doing something that can put the lives of others in danger.”

What the bill currently proposes

Parliament is currently debating a draft bill to start random roadside testing for drink and drug driving.

Should the bill turn into law in its current format, those who kill someone while above the alcohol limit or with drugs in their system while driving will face a mandatory three-year prison sentence.

Organisations including Doctors for Road Safety and the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis are in favour of the government’s drive to introduce roadside alcohol and drug testing.

But they have recommended that roadside drug testing focus on whether a driver is under the effects of cannabis, rather than whether there is any trace of it in the body, because “it is impairment that poses a real risk to road safety”.

Doctors for Road Safety, alongside government agency FSWS and the psychiatry association, have also asked the government to take into account prescription drugs.