Bill would expand mandatory drug testing after car crashes

BATON ROUGE — The House Transportation Committee advanced two bills on Monday that would permit drug testing in severe traffic accidents and waive penalties for uninsured drivers under special circumstances.

Sen. Ryan Gatti, R-Bossier City, sponsored a bill that would mandate either chemical, blood or urine testing in a traffic crash involving serious bodily injury or death. Gatti’s bill defines serious bodily injury as one that is “severe” or “incapacitating.”

Louisiana’s current law allows for post-accident drug testing only when a collision results in an on-site fatality. The proposed bill, however, would expand the existing law.

If the bill were to become law, it would be known as “Katie Bug’s Law,” named after 4-year-old Katie Grantham of Bossier Parish, who was killed in an auto accident in 2017. Though Katie’s mother, Morgan Grantham, suspected the driver who hit them was impaired by drugs, he was not tested by police because Katie did not die at the scene.

Read more: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/louisiana/2019/05/20/bill-would-expand-mandatory-drug-testing-after-car-crashes/3747762002/
(Lafayette Advertiser)