A former road safety minister says drug driving is now a ‘hidden epidemic’, with courts convicting almost 20,000 people for driving under the influence of drugs in 2018 alone—around four times as many as earlier years.
The appalling new information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), shows that, between January 2018 and March 2019, 19,615 motorists lost their licences—that’s equal to 60 every working day or 302 every working week.
A sorry figure
The latest DVLA figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show police nabbed over 200 17-year-olds who had just passed their driving tests and over 40 children aged 15 and 16—all behind the wheel with drugs in their system.
Six people lost their licences after causing death while driving while intoxicated with substances that included cannabis and cocaine.
Some of those whose offences resulted in the death (of at least one other) received a four-year driving ban as punishment and while DVLA data doesn’t show if courts handed out custodial sentences, few offenders go to prison.
Drivers in their late twenties are the most serious offenders. Age 25 is when most people get disqualified because of driving while intoxicated with drugs.
The middle-aged and elderly didn’t have clean records, either. Courts prosecuted 78 motorists over the age of 60 for failing drugs tests. The eldest to lose their licence was a 74-year-old woman.
Figures show that men offend the most, with 18,175 prosecutions, compared with 1,440 women.
The figures include those prosecuted for driving or being in charge of a vehicle when unfit, driving or attempting to drive with a drug level above the specified limit, and causing death by careless driving.
Driving under the influence of drugs became a recognised criminal offence in 2015. In the 12 months following the law change, a police survey showed that when officers from 26 forces stopped motorists on suspicion of taking drugs and carried out 5,857 roadside drug tests, 3,718 tested positive.
‘Google it’
Campaigners say police miss many other drugged lawbreakers because officers stop and test fewer motorists at the roadside since the number of road policing officers fell by a third in the last 10 years.
David Jamieson, who was once a Transport Minister with responsibility for road safety, now West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, said:
‘These figures are staggering. The reality is drug driving is a hidden epidemic. A lot of people think they can get away with it because so few police are on the roads and the likelihood of being stopped is really low. What we need is tougher enforcement.’
In August 2018, after smoking cannabis, an 18-year-old smashed his police officer parents’ £35,000 Audi into pedestrians Jason Imi and John Shackley, causing their instant deaths.
Max Coopey, who passed his driving test only two months before the incident, was over the limit for the class B drug cannabis and, although he denied taking it, tests also found codeine in his system.
Courts spared the teenager prison at his trial in January this year and charged him with drug driving rather than death by dangerous or careless driving, which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years. They ordered him to pay £105 costs, and he received a meagre 100 hours of community service and a 24-month driving ban. Thames Valley Police didn’t consult the Crown Prosecution Service.
Despite having 3.3 micrograms (µg) in his blood when the legal limit is 2µg, Mr Coopey claimed the cannabis hadn’t affected him.
Speaking at his victims’ inquest in July, Coopey said:
‘Just because something is in your blood doesn’t mean you’re under the influence. Google it.’
A spokesman for road safety charity Brake said:
‘These shocking figures reveal just how prevalent drug driving is on our roads. It is vital that both the law and our enforcement ability is effective in catching, punishing and deterring this dangerous behaviour.
‘The Government must prioritise the type-approval of roadside screening devices that can detect all banned drugs and step up roads policing levels to deter offending.
‘We also need to see the law used to its fullest extent with tougher penalties handed out, making clear that drug driving will not be tolerated.’
The weed of crime bears bitter fruit
In England and Wales, it’s illegal to drive if either you’re unfit to do so because you’re under the influence of drugs (illegal or legal) or your blood has certain levels of illegal drugs, even if they haven’t affected your driving.
If the police suspect you’re under the influence of drugs, they can stop you and make you do a ‘field impairment assessment’ (a series of tests, such as asking you to walk in a straight line) or use a roadside drug test to look for cannabis and cocaine.
If they think you’re unfit to drive, they’ll arrest you, take you to a police station, and ask for a blood or urine sample for testing. The police can charge you if your sample tests positive for drugs.
As with drink-driving, if you’re convicted of driving under the influence of drugs, you could get a driving ban of at least 12 months. You also risk receiving an unlimited fine and even up to six months in prison.
A conviction for drug driving will mean a significant increase in the cost of your car insurance, that you have trouble travelling to countries like the United States, and if you drive for work, your employer will know of the conviction on your licence.
You can usually consider a criminal record for a motoring conviction as ‘spent’ after five years but drug driving information stays on your DVLA driving record and driving licence for up to 11 years.
The law differs in Northern Ireland and Scotland introduced a new drug driving law last week.
If you take legal drugs (whether prescription or over-the-counter) and aren’t sure whether you’re safe to drive, talk to your doctor, a healthcare professional, or a pharmacist.
How do you feel about the current drug driving law? What could further reduce driving while under the influence of drugs? Has a police officer ever pulled you over to test you for drugs? Why do you think drug driving is on the increase? Tell us in the comments.
Less police equals higher crime rate its obvious. I havent seen a (walking) policeman in my town in months.
I haven’t seen a walking policeman for years. No wonder the crime rate is up.
Remember that too many policemen is a bigger problem than too few.
There are too many sleeping policemen where we live
Killing people after abusing recreational drugs and driving is totally unacceptable.
However there must be millions like myself, on prescription medication which is a variant of a drug for which some kind of legal limitation has been placed on it for drivers.
When the legislation was first passed, I consulted my doctor, I also took a photo of my prescription on my mobile phone to show in case I got stopped.
I suspect just as many innocent motorists will be persecuted as dangerous junkie drivers.
I have never driven after drinking any amount of alcoholic drink, but suspect the same issue might arise there and carefully check cough medicine, chocolates and cake for alcohol. I won’t even risk a mouth spray, which even if it’s nearly pure ethanol it’s only going to be a tiny dose, but I bet you’d fail a breathalyser test in the minutes afterwards.
If people read the instructions of use in every prescribed or not prescribed medication it will say if affected do not drive or operate machinery, it dosent say DON’T drive when using this medication, perhaps it should?
Prosecuted, not persecuted!
I am on very strong painkillers(prescribed) but when I go out (I drive) I take water and tablets with me to take when I arrive and then wait at least 4 hours before driving home
Horrifying that those convicted of causing another’s death because of narcotic intoxication are so rarely imprisoned. Does anyone really believe that a 4 year driving disqualification for this is in any way a punishment? Maybe a mandatory 20 year imprisonment with no reduction of sentence might deter some, especially when they’ve seen one of their mates disappear for two decades with no remission. I’d impose precisely the same penalty for those who kill others whilst driving and using their cellphone.
I totally agree with you. The law is a joke and British justice fails beyond measure. The judges who hand out lenient sentences should be sacked immediately and given a prison sentence for contempt of court.
If this farce carries on, then drivers will carry on with their stupidity knowing that all that they receive is a smack on the wrist.
If I kill someone with my car, surely it’s manslaughter.
You have Killed someone. You have taken away the rest of their life!
I’d say that if you killed someone with your car, yes manslaughter, however if you chose to drive whilst under the affects of drugs or alcohol, then I’d consider that murder. You planned to drive knowing you’d consumed something that would affect your driving ability. It’s all about choice, if you choose drink or drugs, do not drive. Simples!
Change in social lifestyles and people see alcohol as more of a taboo now than for instance smoking cannabis. People don’t understand that it’s not normal and these things are banned for a reason regardless of the arguements for or against
Too few Traffic Enforcement Officers means this scourge will be an epidemic and there won’t be many families untouched by the results of drug and alcohol intoxication. Labour will reverse the 10;years of Lib Dem and Tory cuts to the Police and Public Services.
Don’t let this carry on and affect your loved ones.
Labour left the country bankrupt the last time they were in power. Socialists never understand that the only money governments have has come from us and our loved ones.
Apart from the tax that big companies like Amazon and Starbucks get away without paying eh ? Tories only care about their billionaire donors so they let them get away with it…
I’ve never voted for Labour in my entire life and never will but seeing as you’ve been voted down for stating the obvious shows me that the morons in this country are no better than our American cousins they’ve drank that neoliberal, trickle down economics “kool-aid” (as the Americans say) it must taste really sweet for them to keep falling for it.
They’ll never learn that these businesses and their CEO’S don’t only get away with not paying their dues, many times they get a rebate on what they don’t pay. 😂 “But they create jobs” yea keep telling yourselves that.
Indeed… But the public services need to be paid for the benefit of everyone. America and the UK two of the least happy developed nations on the planet, the happiest social democracies! Keep drinking that neoliberal drink dude, They’ll thank you for it!
Give it a rest, Big A. That old Tory lie has outstayed its welcome.
It was greedy American bankers, not known for their ‘socialist’ policies, who crashed the financial services sector by flogging unaffordable mortgages for commission to low income families in US, then repackaging the debt and selling it round the world as having triple A rated security!
UK financial sector is second biggest after USA, so of course UK was hit worse than anywhere else when bank lending froze, given relative size of UK economy.
Yes, LAB could have enforced tighter regulation of banking practices, but they were being harassed at every turn by Tories that they were already being too constricting and should DEREGULATE financial services further!
give it a rest law breaking is law breaking
ROBIN are you just totally on drugs yourself or are you talking aload of shit sober up and think for yourself
Robin I don’t know what your on but if that’s how you think get help quick
Keep politics out of it , it is about driving under the influence or illegal drugs
I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
One of the main reasons over 60s have drugs in their systems is because they have the drugs on prescription for a variety of medical complaints. Morphine based products seem to be the main problem, and if it is on prescription, people assume they are safe to drive because they don’t read the warnings supplied with the medication.
I do take morphine tablets for my arthritis. As a low dose they don’t affect my driving at all. Whereas if I took Codeine I’d be half asleep!
Ban the junkies for life and never allow them back on the roads, and maybe their kids will learn from there selfishness and when these idiots loses their jobs and then them and their families have to rely on public transport.. Hard lessons for believing that narcotics are good. Ignorance is no defence in law, interpretation of guidelines on prescription medicines need to be read not just tossed away without even looking at it. If it says may cause drowsiness refrain from driving or using machinery that what we should do., ignoring those guidelines shows the same disregard to any other rules, laws or guidelines.
Note the word ‘may’. Only you can tell if you are drowsy. If you are, don’t drive.
Reading some of these comments, it seems that a lot of the contributors have an age that’s greater than their I.Q.
No contribution to the debate I notice ?
Drugs and driving don’t mix lifetime ban from driving if convicted is the only way
If you ever watch the ;Police interceptors’ or similar, you might realise that a driving ban is meaningless. Most drivers just continue as if nothing had happened and they know they have only a slight chance of being caught again
Who really thinks that banning Druggie Drivers will keep them off the roads? Day after court theyll be back at the wheel of ‘someones’ car.
Jail would do the trick but half the judges suffer from dementia they can’t pass a proper sentence they have forgot how to Mugg some one and get 50 hours community sentence FAB!
You’d soon be squealing if everyone who was over an alcohol or prescription drug or illegal drug’s proscribed limit whilst driving was banged up in chokey. Your taxes would have to double to pay for it!
500,000 prison population sound good to you (currently 85,000)? Like USA?
so what do we do , let them off .? muppet
Yawn
Chuck the scum through a people mincer and spread on the fields – good result all round
can’t pass a proper sentence ? most of them can’t even pass wind
the problem is that because its the car that shows up as insured these idiots think they can drive even though they are not personally covered to drive
Drug driving, this is just the start of the epidemic, the reluctance of the police over the past 20 years to heavily prosecute people carrying illegal drugs for personal use has condoned their use, students for me are the worst offenders their drug consumption is unchecked and out of control, instead of the police trying to target dealers which is a waste of time and money they should be heavily fining Joe public £1000 per bag found in their possession, the impact on students would
be massive as we regularly find them carrying. Three or more bags on a night out, this would soon stop them, also shaming the users the same way drunk drivers are shamed in the local and national press,
Shame them by informing the parents.
The problem is that most of them think it’s legal for their own personal use.
This one time at band camp..
When we receive a prescription from the doctor we don’t think of the medication as offending drugs. And who reads the paperwork in the box?
And then there’s CBD folks are buying online for medicinal purposes.
Folk just think of drugs as offensive when they’re bought illegally
Drug is the new alcohol, unbelievably widespread across every age and section of our communities, workplaces included, I personally know so so many hence the statement. by n large folk taking do not think of it in the same way as alcohol, alcohol as the “Do Not “ stigma attached as it has been enforced for years, folk will freely smoke a joint at the wheel, whereby they would’nt dream of drinking a can of lager at the wheel, the roads are so busy and dangerous even when fully alert, any abuse needs stamping down on and more advert campaigns to make folk more aware ! IMHO ….
Yes. The policeman’s son who killed 2 people in the family audi got off very lightly. Smells like hypocrisy to me.
I think it’s called “the old boys network” at play, i.e. magistrates, judges, police etc, to quote a phrase “were all in it together”.
He should have been punished in proportion to the level of contrition he showed at the inquest!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-50219544
Hang the B a s t a r d, only 100 hours of community service and a two-year driving ban for killing 2 people.
JO Don’t forget the judge who past the sentence
With social attitudes to Cannabis becoming much more tolerant irrespective of how little or how much judgement is impaired this to me looks like a ballooning issue.
Will driving bans stop many of such offenders from getting behind the wheel while banned? I think not with the climate and attitudes today. This will cause further problems.
Illegal drugs and driving is so prevalent now it should carry an automatic ban. Those that have been advised by their doctors not to drive on prescription medication also need to abide by not driving until fit.
After the ban has been lifted the offender should for the next 5years pay for monthly tests to prove their fitness to drive.
I’am a former UKSF Soldier and believe me the Government only make laws with themselves in mind. For instance the drink drive limit is 35 MCG per 100ml of breath. So why not ban it altogether! the reason is, the mojority of MP’S drink and drive. And yes some of them do take class A and B drugs, just like Judges, barristers, solicitors and police officers. Drink driving alone costs the UK tax payers billions per year. You only have to visit any A&E department up and down the UK on a Friday or Saturday night and 90% of casualties are from drink or/and drug related altercation’s. The Government have already have spent so much time and money in banning smoking adverts etc which I do agree with as figures show a sharp decline in people who have given up, but yet the affects of alcohol is the biggest cost to our economy and yet they do nothing at all. As soon as you walk into a supermarket you see stacks of boxes containing alcohol. Is this what we want our kids to see pushed in their faces. I read a report stating the average person consumes over 500 pints of alcohol per year! If the Government doubled the tax on alcohol it would generate an extra £609bn per year talking the total to over £1.2tn per year, then use the extra revenue to cut the taxation on petrol and diesel which intern brings down the cost of living. Back to drugs, the same total ban whilst driving under the influence of illegal drugs should apply. As for obtaining drugs, another report that I read was that there is at least one drug dealer in each road we live in! I never thought I would see the day were its easier to get drugs than cheap cigarettes.
I think you’re living in a dream world. 500 pints of “alcohol”??? 90 % of casualties???? Drug dealer in every road???? Oh and by the way, if you ever were special forces, the last thing you’d be doing is mentioning it in casual conversation. You’re either a Walter Mitty or about 12……
Its the word former, so I say what I am allowed to according to the OSA. These reports where publicly issued by our Govenment and PLEASE dont be disrespectful. I am sure these reports are on the internet or you could obtain them under the Freedom of information act. We don’t know each other so if you dont agree with what I had said please word your reply with a little tactfulness, I am sure your decent person otherwise you wouldn’t be on this sight.
Here’s just one report Alex https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12062056/Three-in-four-people-in-AandE-at-weekend-are-there-because-of-alcohol.html
I live in Belfast never see a Policeman on the beat. I have seen only one Police Car in about a month. This is the norm here. Yet everyday at junctions or lights I pull up beside at least 4 people who are on their phones. Also also many more using them while driving. Does not suprise me the Drug driving is on the increase and drink driving. Sick and tired of it
Ooh, I can’t be bothered upholding the law, if there’s a problem, introduce a new law with higher penalties. Even then, we can’t catch them breaking existing laws and if we did, we’d let them off with suspended sentence that won’t be enforced if they’re caught again. Oh it’s so tiring, just go away and only break the laws when nobody is looking!
I agree with an earlier post mandatory sentencing 10yrs with in carceration rehabilitation mandatory, failure whilst incarcerated to rehabilitate, full sentence is served no parole.
20yrs (life is a bit harsh). 20yrs if a death occurs because of intoxication fair enough.
All the laws and sentencing need overhauling.
Joy riding, police chases over 1/2 should be mandatory 10yrs no parole. In the states crossing a county line is 12 yrs. Three strikes in some states for crimes is a huge jail sentence.
I dont care if the dont rehabilitate in prison if it keeps the scum off our streets so law abiding citizens can go about their lives safely and peacefully so be it!
What’s the point of the ban. Watching many of the police programs, Traffic Cops, Police interceptors erc, so many of the stopped drivers are ALREADY banned several times over, so what’s another ban going to do, just one more to ignore!
The system is broken. No where near enough officers to police drug/drink driving. Even if they get caught the sentence is laughable. Do they really think the type of person who willingly uses hard drugs will stop driving if banned. These scratters who tear around don’t give a flying xxx for anyone or anything. They will carry on as normal.
So they want to decriminalize cannabis use???
It is a culture problem, youngsters today think it is cool and ok to use these drugs. Penalties need to be hard and enforced on every case found and convicted otherwise the law is considered a joke by the users!
These figures would probably be much higher with more undercover police vehicles, This government has permitted many criminal offences to increase due to the cuts in Police budgets. Now is the time to legalise drugs for those persistent idiots. Let the airline pilots have some leeway to make flying more enjoyable..
And they want to legalise drugs!!!!! Idiots.
Alcohol is legal. But you can’t drive after drinking more than a tiny amount.
Great stuff but dont just ban drink and drug drivers why not give an instant 6 month ban to all the annoying dangerous ar…..les who persist to use a mobile phone whilst driving as well
The death sentence should be reinstated for drug dealers and drug gang killers. They ruin lives, and have no remorse. This country is too soft on evil.
Have been urging drugs testing for years. At last someone has had the wake up call.
Next on the list “rip off” car insurance packages by which we are forced to take cover we do not want e g non uk travel,windscreen,etc.Tesco when we buy coffee does not force us to buy milk and sugar.Think about it the insurers take us for MUGS
Great news, get them off the roads, Now you have to concentrate on getting the untaxed, uninsured people OFF the roads, we’ve got ANPR support so use it.
Excellent news, now use the ANPR equipment to get the untaxed and uninsured drivers off the roads
Still think the punishment should even harder , like if you get caught , the ban is for life, end of people will soon learn I know it sounds very hard unlucky it that’s the only way to sort this out and that goes for drink driving as well end of
Sorry to disappoint, but even if they get a banned from driving for life, they will just smile and get hold of another cheap car and carry on driving. Not possible to stop them.
has anyone devised a system to test drivers before they open their cars, maybe something in the key-fob that would prevent the car starting if levels were too high?
Society and the law are far too tolerant over drugs, users and addicts. This is just one of the outcomes.
The law is all wishie washie.. If you drink drive you can go on course and be back on the road after 9 months… unlike drug driving there is no course to go no…. But drug driving have the same pushmnt as drink driving… How is that fair
All we have to do is follow other counter how do drivers in USA ampstdam were it is ilegal to smoke weed
[…] currently being banned from driving every day in England. Between January 2018 and March 2019, 19,615 motorists lost their licences, statistics from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency reveal. When self-employed business owners […]
My son was stab coming from work got out of his pop in the shop one more inch he would have die he as Flash back he took one puff four days later he was stop by police he might lose is work he is the bread winner to me thats where trouble start no job no money