July 2007

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Leading insurer comments on UK drink driving problem

- MORE TH>N supports clampdown on drug drivers
- One in five people (21 per cent) has driven shortly after taking illegal drugs
- Four out of ten drug drivers think their driving is not affected by drugs, or that their behaviour is safe

As the number of people driving under the influence of illegal drugs in the UK reaches critical levels, leading motor insurer MORE TH>N is pushing for the speedy introduction of roadside drugs screening devices similar to those being used successfully in other countries, including Germany, Switzerland and Australia.

Research from MORE TH>N1 supports police claims that drug driving is a growing problem in the UK. One in five people (21 per cent) has driven shortly after taking illegal drugs. 38 per cent of those who did admit drug driving think that their driving skills are not affected by drugs.

Mike Holliday-Williams, Managing Director, MORE TH>N comments on today’s announcement that the police will be heavily targeting drivers under the influence of either illegal or prescription drugs:
“Our research has found that Brits are some of the worst drug driving offenders in Europe, and drug driving could become as serious a problem in the UK as drink driving. Many people just don’t realise the effects that illegal drugs have on their ability to drive and to think straight, and this may be part of the reason why young people in particular continue to drive while impaired by drugs.

“For this reason it is vitally important that highly effective measures are put in place as quickly as possible to crack down on offenders. We believe that roadside screening should be a practical reality within the next two years and urge the government to introduce the test without delay. It’s crucial that this issue is tackled quickly if we are to avoid many more unnecessary deaths. It would be difficult to find someone today who wasn’t aware of the risks of drink driving, and drug driving is equally as dangerous. Nobody can justify drug driving – it’s never safe, under any circumstances.”

The MORE TH>N research shows 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 research also found that 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.

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