LANSING, MI -- A bill creating a roadside drug testing pilot program is one step closer to becoming reality.

The bill, which passed the Senate June 9 and the House in January, would create a Michigan State Police-run pilot program in five counties to conduct roadside saliva drug testing for cocaine, marijuana, heroin and other drugs. It now awaits Gov. Rick Snyder's signature.

Bill sponsor Sen. Tom Casperson, whose district covers much of the Upper Peninsula, has said the legislation's intent is to allow the state to come up with "a reasonable standard" for drug testing, like it has in place for drunk driving.

If the bill becomes law, it will be named "Barbara J. and Thomas J. Swift Law," after the couple killed in a March 20, 2013, crash in Escanaba, when a tractor-trailer ran a red light and careened into their Chevrolet Malibu.

Tractor-trailer driver Harley Davidson Durocher was convicted of charges including operating while intoxicated causing death, and sentenced to a minimum of five years and five months in prison for the crash.

Durocher's blood was draw at a hospital following the crash showed THC, an ingredient of marijuana, leading to the charges.

After the crash, Brian Swift, the couple's son, said he contacted Casperson to try to make a better way to catch drugged drivers.

"My sister and I are doing this for our parents but also other victims who don't have a voice," Swift said. "Some legislators are so thoughtful and kind while others are heartless, special interest zombies who make no attempt to do the right thing for victims of crime but coddle the criminals."

Attorney Neil Rockind, founder of Southfield-based criminal defense law firm Rockind Law, said in February he opposed the bill that would set a "dangerous precedent" for Michigan.

"A pilot program is a test program and, in this case, treats people as guinea pigs to be studied," he said.

"People are not guinea pigs. No citizen should be the subject of a test program when their liberty and way of life are on the line."

Swift thanked Casperson for pushing the legislation and dismisses critics of the bill.

"This is a pilot program, and we have to start someplace," Swift said.

"How in the hell are we ever going to solve these problems without initiatives like this?" he said. "I'm sick and tired of giving criminals who get light sentences for killing and maiming people on our roads a pass. It's not your right to drive and put other people at risk because you think you can."

Swift criticized pro-drug groups and opponents of the bill who want to keep the status quo.

"Nothing is going to bring my mom and dad back," Swift said, and the bill is meant to honor their memory. "Our pain never goes away, but we know my parents would want to help others and this law will save people's lives."

Under the proposed pilot program, an officer certified as a drug recognition expert armed with a swab-based drug detection kit could be called to a traffic stop to administer the roadside test.

The legislation would instruct the Michigan State Police to select five counties in which to implement the pilot program. A county would be eligible to participate if it had a law enforcement agency within its boundary that employed at least one law enforcement officer who was a certified drug recognition expert, the Senate Fiscal Agency reports.

Funding would be subject to appropriation.

According to the Office of Highway Safety Planning, as of February, Michigan had 99 Certified Drug Recognition Experts in 37 counties.

-- Brad Devereaux is a reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.