The shift in public attitude alone demonstrates that drink driving campaign’s in Britain have had noticeable success and most drivers would agree the volume of people drink driving has fallen dramatically in recent years – to the extent that drink-driving is now considered extremely dangerous and socially unacceptable.
This considered, it seems incredible that while the majority of drivers take the dangers of drink driving so seriously, amongst certain segments, drug-driving is not being considered such an issue, despite the fact that it is just as dangerous in terms of reducing driver control, awareness, reaction times and impairing judgement.
The cost of drug-driving could easily be someone’s life which should be deterrent enough, but if it isn’t, there are a host of additional costs for anyone caught doing it. As well as six months in prison and a £5000 fine price comparison website Confused.com suggests some insurance providers will more than double your premium following drug-driving related convictions, while others will refuse to even quote.
But despite these costs, statistics from the Department for Transport show that one in 10 young male drivers admit to drug driving, a frightening statistic I’m sure you will agree. On this basis it is reassuring the Government launched a major drug driving awareness campaign this year which they hope will have a similar impact to the drink driving campaigns that have gone before.
One reason for drivers not taking drug-driving seriously is the rather archaic testing system at the police’s disposal. In its basic-ness it takes you back to the primitive drink-driving tests of the 1970’s. Because of the fact that illegal drugs are. well illegal, there can be no legal limits and there is no standard roadside apparatus in widespread use. Instead, Police have to rely on physical tests of a driver’s state.
This is clearly a big issue for the authorities and until the Government approves an effective roadside drug-testing device there will be drivers who continue to disregard the law. Different drugs affect driving in different ways, for example, Police would tell you that substances like cocaine can make drivers over-confident and drive faster, while cannabis does the opposite and can see drivers trundling along well below the speed limit. However, this is no excuse and driving under the influence of illegal drugs must be stamped out, regardless of which drug it is that has been taken.
It took years to successfully get the drink driving message across but with it came a cultural shift and I am hopeful the learnings from that journey will mean the move to stamp out drug-driving is a much more rapid one.
