Chamber and committees

The recommendations of the A737/A738 Route Accident Reduction Plan have been accepted in full. The works include:Provision of a pedestrian crossing on A737 at Kilwinning Academy/Abbey Primary School.Red textured bar markings and triangular school children warning signs on A737 carriageway on both approaches to schools.Provision of a new bus lay-by on east side of A737, south of Kilwinning Academy.Installation of advance stop lines, kerb realignment, skid resistant surfacing, carriageway markings, textile paving and high visibility guard-rail at A737/A738 Dalry Road/Byres Road Junction.Provision of a pedestrian crossing on A738 Stevenston Road (exact location to be identified).Installation of right turn ghost island markings and centre road hatching on westbound approach to A738 Stevenston Road/Castlehill Road Junction.Various amendments/renewals of existing signs on the A737/A738 through Kilwinning.It is intended that the works will be implemented by end of March 2003.

The Scottish Executive commissioned Amey Highways to undertake the A737/A738 Route Accident Reduction Plan study in March this year. Amey's report was received on 29 November and is currently being evaluated by officials.

None, this is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables.

All Scottish police forces have officers trained to carry out the tests.

The information requested is not held centrally. However, it should be noted that a court would be expected to consider not just the results of physical co-ordination tests but also other evidence such as the events surrounding why the police stopped the driver; the manner of driving; demeanour; medical practitioner examination, and blood sample analysis.

While the percentage of biological samples submitted for analysis which are positive has increased since the introduction of these tests, the effectiveness of the tests continues to be monitored by the police.

UK Government research, published in 2001, indicated that 18% of people killed in road accidents had used illegal drugs. This represented a six-fold increase in the incidence of such drugs since a similar survey in the mid-1980s. There was no change in the incidence of medicinal drugs (6%) since the previous survey. It is not possible to say that the drugs present in an individual's system caused any of these accidents, merely that drugs were detected in the victim's system.Research on recreational drug use and driving, published by the Scottish Executive in 2001, found that:

• nearly 10% of drivers aged 17 to 39 have driven under the influence of illegal drugs;

• cannabis is the most common drug to have been used by drug drivers;

• drug driving is more prevalent among 20- to 24-year-old age group, and

driving after recreational drug use is widespread among people attending night-clubs and dance venues.

All Scottish police forces use the physical co-ordination tests.

The available information is given in the following table. Offences of driving while unfit through drugs cannot be separately identified from offences of driving while unfit through drink in the statistics held centrally. The statistics on court proceedings in 2001 are expected to be published later this year.Offences of Driving While Unfit Through Drink or Drugs With a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts, by Police Force Area, 1998-2000

Police Force	Year of Sentence
	1998	1999	2000
Central	8	13	10
Dumfries and Galloway	6	4	9
Fife	24	24	37
Grampian	45	47	44
Lothian and Borders	62	70	57
Northern	7	7	7
Strathclyde	191	197	222
Tayside	61	39	55
Scotland	404	401	441

The regulation and safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines Control Agency (MCA).Since 1 July 1999, the Executive has received 14 letters from MSPs and members of the public about Seroxat. These were answered on the basis of information supplied by the MCA.The answer given to question S1W-30722 on 28 October 2002 gives further information about the advice available to prescribers about the use of Seroxat. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.