January 2007

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MORE TH>N's response to ACPO UK drink and drug driving figures

EMBARGOED: NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST UNTIL 00.01, 16th JANUARY 2007

In response to figures issued today (15 January 2007) by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) showing that drink and drug-driving still remains a problem in the UK, Dr Rob Tunbridge, drug impairment expert for motor insurer MORE TH>N comments:

“Drug-driving today is one of the biggest emerging risks on our roads. British drivers are some of the worst drug driving offenders in Europe, it is possible that drug driving could become as serious a problem in the UK as drink driving. As such, roadside testing, as already used successfully in many European countries including Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, Australia and Germany, should be introduced in the UK to better detect drug drivers and avoid further injuries and fatalities.

“While the ACPO figures show that a third (38 per cent) of the 666 drivers who carried out ‘fit to drive tests’ over the Christmas period were suspected of being impaired whilst driving under the influence of drugs, it is evident that these tests do not go far enough to address the problem.

Mike Holliday-Williams, managing director of MORE TH>N, said: “Our research has found that more than a fifth of people admit to driving shortly after taking illegal drugs, and seven per cent of them have been involved in an accident while impaired by drugs. Drug driving presents a serious risk not only to those who choose to do it, but also to other motorists on the road. For this reason it is vitally important that highly effective measures are put in place as quickly as possible to crack down on offenders.”

MORE TH>N’s research, conducted among 1,072 British adults in 2006, found that although nine in ten of people surveyed do not think that drug driving is safe, 38 per cent of those who did admit to drug driving think that their driving skills are not affected by drugs or that their behaviour is safe. In comparison, 94 per cent of those surveyed said that they would not drive if they thought they were over the legal blood alcohol limit.

The frequency of drug driving in the UK is frightening, the MORE TH>N research reveals. Four per cent of drug drivers admit to getting behind the wheel while impaired several times every week and a further one in ten do so every month. Furthermore, the types of drugs that drivers are taking are changing for the worse, with a shift from ’softer’ drugs like cannabis to harder drugs such as cocaine. Additional research has shown that the number of people admitting to recent cocaine use has increased by 144% in the three years from February 2003 to February 20062, and there was a nine-fold increase in British road fatalities with cocaine in their system between 1987 and 20003.

As well as alarming ignorance about the physical risks of drug driving, 10 per cent of the drug-drivers surveyed by MORE TH>N admitted they offend because they think they can get away with it. One third (32 per cent) said that they would be deterred if Police did more checks, and a further 13 per centif the punishment was more severe; this is surprising given the punishment for drug-driving is the same as drink-driving – ranging from a heavy fine to disqualification or imprisonment.

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