Toronto police have issued their first ever drug recognition test in the wake of new "drugged driving" legislation enacted in July.
The new laws allow police to demand a drug test if they suspect a driver of being high while behind the wheel.
Toronto police tested out the new rules after watching a woman drive her vehicle into a stopped car on Wednesday.
Toronto police Sgt. Tim Burrows says police were conducting an investigation on Richmond Street at about 4 p.m. when the woman ran into one of the cars that was part of the probe.
The woman seemed impaired, but "alcohol was ruled out," says Burrows.
"They arrested her for impaired by drug and introduced her to a drug recognition expert," he says, adding the expert conducted a series of tests, including some that will be analyzed at a lab. "He determined that a drug charge should be laid."
Burrows says the new law will do a lot to make the city's streets safer.
"We actually have some teeth when we suspect that it's not alcohol but a drug that has caused the impairment... We can get (that) driver off our roads," he says.
