Baker-Polito administration refiles legislation combatting impaired driving in Massachusetts

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On Nov. 10, the Baker-Polito Administration refiled legislation to improve safety on Massachusetts roads while combating drug-impaired driving.

The Trooper Thomas Clardy Law would update road safety laws by implementing uniform standards, promoting strategies to reduce automobile crashes, implementing recommendations from the Special Commission on Operating Under the Influence and Impaired Driving.

“This legislation aims to make the Commonwealth’s roads safer and save lives, and we are grateful to the Clardy family for offering their family’s name and support for this legislation, which will help us avoid impaired driving incidents in the future,” Gov. Charlie Baker said. “This bill will provide law enforcement officers with more rigorous drug detection training and will strengthen the legal process by authorizing the courts to acknowledge that the active ingredient in marijuana can and does impair motorists.”

The bill is named after Trooper Thomas Clardy, who was killed by a marijuana-impaired driver on the Massachusetts Turnpike in March 2016 after the driver swerved across three lanes of traffic, striking Clardy’s parked cruiser. The refiling of the bill coincides with the second anniversary of the conviction of Clardy’s killer.

“Our administration is refiling this legislation as part of our steadfast commitment to safeguarding our roadways and protecting the people of the Commonwealth from preventable crimes,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “With the continued implementation of adult-use marijuana in the Commonwealth, it is vital that we continue to focus on efforts to both combat drugged driving and raise awareness about the dangers of operating while under the influence.”

First filed in 2019, the legislation is based on the Special Commission’s recommendations, including adopting implied consent laws to suspend the driver’s licenses of arrested motorists who refuse to cooperate in chemical testing for drugs; adopting a statute that authorizes courts to judicial notice that ingesting THC can and does impair motorists; directing the Municipal Police Training Committee to expand the training of drug recognition experts, and allowing them to testify in court cases; prohibiting drivers from having loose or unsealed packages of marijuana in the driver’s compartment of a vehicle; recognizing the effectiveness of the horizontal gaze nystagmus test for sobriety; empowering police officers to seek electronic search warrants for evidence of chemical intoxication; and developing educational materials and programming on drug impairment to share with trial court judges.