16 September 2020 01:16 am
A special urine test will be made mandatory for those who apply for heavy vehicle or commercial vehicle driving licences to check whether they are users of alcoholic or non-alcoholic intoxicants, State Minister for Transport, Dilum Amunugama said.
He said currently medical tests were conducted at checkpoints or roadblocks to check whether the applicant had consumed any alcohol.
“We have received several complaints from people that those driving three-wheelers and buses are under the influence of non-alcoholic intoxicants. The normal alcohol tests will not reveal if a person is under the influence of non-alcoholic intoxicants. Therefore, a special urine test will be carried out,” the state minister said.
He said the new test would reveal whether the person had consumed any non-alcoholic intoxicants not also at the time of the test but during the preceding months as well.
Meanwhile, the state minister said the Transport Ministry would take measures to reduce the cost of obtaining heavy vehicle or commercial vehicle driving licences. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)