As I read this I am inclined to believe this would be a good thing. So many times drugs may have been a factor in accidents, but if not tested is hard to prove. Most departments I do believe test for alcohol when an injury accident may occur but to check for drugs is often overlooked.
Those who drive under the influence may not always be alcohol related, or illegal drug related. Those who take presciption drugs and drive may also be impaired but feel because they have a script for the drug, they are ok, not always so. An alert officer may spot this. Others may not.

Testing wreck victims

Legislators could require drug tests at injury accidents

TOPEKA -- A legislative committee has recommended a bill that would require drug testing at motor vehicle injury accidents.

The House-Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure Friday, a reaction to several recent fatal traffic accidents in which people who caused the wrecks were not tested for drug use. The committee said it would recommend the bill when the full Legislature comes into session in January.

''We've heard some compelling evidence that something needs to be done,'' said state Rep. Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson.

The move was supported by Dennis Bixby, of Tonganoxie, whose 19-year-old daughter, Amanda, was killed in a Feb. 14 traffic wreck.

''We've got to get this thing done, and at least this way we know that we are moving forward,'' Bixby said after the committee vote.

In the death of Amanda Bixby, officers initially cited Ricardo Flores, of Lansing, for vehicular homicide, failure to yield and driving without a license. Flores ran a stop sign and hit Bixby's car and another vehicle on U.S. 24-40 just west of Basehor.

Under current law, vehicular homicide is a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

But shortly afterward, Leavenworth County Attorney Frank Kohl refused to pursue vehicular homicide charges against Flores. Kohl said a 2002 Kansas Supreme Court ruling held that the mere fact a driver ran a red light or a stop sign did not satisfy the legal elements required for a vehicular homicide conviction.

Flores pleaded no contest to failure to yield at a stop sign, speeding and driving without a valid license. In September, Flores was ordered to pay $228 in fines and court costs and spend six months on probation.

Bixby had lobbied lawmakers to amend the vehicular homicide law so that it could be triggered if a person didn't have a driver's license. But prosecutors who testified to the committee said not having a license doesn't cause wrecks.

Committee Chairman Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, said changing the vehicular homicide law was probably not doable. ''It's an issue the Legislature has wrestled with for decades,'' he said.

But O'Neal, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the Legislature could adopt a law that would require drug testing by getting a saliva sample from people involved in accidents. The sample would be retrieved by a swab.

He said the Legislature could restrict the requirement to accidents were someone is killed or sent to the hospital.

If an oral swab showed the presence of drugs, then probable cause could exist to get a search warrant for a blood sample, supporters of the bill said.

Under the proposal, a person could refuse to submit to the test but they would lose their driver's license for a year. That is similar to the current law on submitting to a breath test in order to determine the level of alcohol consumption.

Some lawmakers, however, said requiring a swab test was an infringement on an individual's rights of privacy.

''I don't know where we are going with this,'' said state Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville. Journey said swabs may show the presence of drugs from legal, prescription medicines.