Impaired driving initiatives (DRE/ ARIDE/ Ditep)

Sign up now for the Statewide 2010 Texas Impaired Driving Conference comming up this April. Sessions will include SFST Update (4hours), ARIDE (16 hours), Mobile Video update, and No Refusal Weekends.

Our mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs by promoting and administering the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DRE), the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) course, and the Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professionals (DITEP) course in the State of Texas.

Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DRE)

The Drug Evaluation and Classification Program/Drug Recognition Expert Course is a National Transportation Safety Program focusing on the apprehension of impaired drivers. The course trains candidate law enforcement officers as Drug Recognition Expert (DREs) through a three-phase training curriculum that includes Drug Recognition Pre-School, Drug Recognition Expert School, and Drug Recognition Field Certification. Once trained and certified, DREs become highly effective officers skilled in the detection and identification of a person impaired or affected by alcohol and/or drugs.

Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE)

ARIDE is intended to bridge the gap between these two programs by providing officers with general knowledge related to drug impairment and by promoting the use of DREs in states that have the DEC Program. One of the more significant aspects of ARIDE is its review and required student demonstration of the SFST proficiency requirements. The ARIDE program also stresses the importance of securing the most appropriate biological sample in order to identify substances likely causing impairment.

ARIDE is a 16-hour training course and may be taught by DREs and DRE instructors. The training will be conducted under the control and approval of the DEC Program state coordinator.

Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professionals (DITEP)

The goal of the DITEP Course is to enable the secondary educational professionals to recognize the signs and symptoms of drug and/or alcohol impairment, in order to prevent an impaired student from driving away from campus and/or to serve as a treatment intervention tool to reduce future instances of DWI. It is hoped that training will ultimately reduce the number of underage alcohol and/or drug related traffic fatalities. The information and procedures presented in this course are for administrative purposes only. They are designed to aid in the assessment and documentation of drug and/or alcohol impairment in students. The subject matter presented will touch upon some, but not all of, the factors a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) considers when examining a drug-impaired individual. This training is not designed as an enforcement tool and will not qualify the participant as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).